


A Real Hero

by RandyPandy



Series: Asphodel ZX [1]
Category: Rockman ZX | Mega Man ZX, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: Aile is an overprotective sister, Aile/Grey Storyline, Gen, Model C wants to be a hero, Origin Story, Thievery happens, Vent gets a Biometal, Vent wants to be a good brother, shortfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2018-09-27 20:11:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10045736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyPandy/pseuds/RandyPandy
Summary: Two years after Slither Inc. fell, Vent had been working to manage Giro Express on his own while his sister Aile searches for the remaining parts of Model W. But a chance encounter with some remnant Mavericks shows Vent that he has to get involved. It was in his blood, after all.





	1. The New Hero

Vent made sure that Rush's food and waterbowls were full before he headed out to do the next set of deliveries, hopping on his bike and driving off.

At sixteen years old, most teenagers would still be in school, studying to prepare them for their dream jobs. Not so with Vent Wiley; he'd been working at his adoptive father's business since he was a child. At first he and his twin sister, Aile, had only done simple things, such as paperwork, or basic housekeeping that any child would be able to do. As he grew older, he had been given more responsibilities, culminating in him getting his bike license at the age of thirteen, and then being allowed to go out on the deliveries.

It wasn't an easy life, and he was aware that he hadn't had as much recreation time as most kids their age would have. Most kids had had a mom and a dad, loving them and encouraging them to study while they goofed off and worried about the most inane things, such as dating, their parents grounding them for bad grades, when the next school event was, and those sort of things.

But Vent and Aile's innocence had been shattered in the Maverick attack at the amusement park in Area G that had claimed their mother's life, and they knew the harsh realities of the world - it wasn't a safe and rosy place. Giro had also been of a sound mind, and had proclaimed that learning the business of Giro Express would enable them to at least be able to make a living even if whatever they chose to study in school didn't work out.

Vent was thankful that Giro had, indeed, taught him the ins and outs of the business. When the blond man and Aile had disappeared during what was supposed to be a routine delivery, he'd managed to keep everything going - talking to business partners, taking care of Rush, getting the deliveries out, and generally doing everything just as well as Giro had. But then again, he'd always been the more business-inclined than Aile had been.

He stopped at a red light after delivering several of the packages, sighing for a brief moment. Aile was alive, he knew that, and she'd gotten herself wrapped up in something extremely dangerous - the same dangerous thing that had claimed Giro's life.

First his mom... now Giro, dead at the hands of the same person. Even if Serpent hadn't dealt the blows himself, he had been the one to kill them.

He just prayed that Aile was safe. He'd never manage if he lost her too.

* * *

Vent would never understand why women loved clothes so much. Aile had generally been the exception to the rule, but occasionally she would come back home wearing a completely different style of clothing and with her hair dyed another color, and he never understood it. What was wrong with their blue uniforms and brown hair? He'd had the same colors for ages and didn't mind at all.

It was probably a female thing.

"My new pleated skirt!" the little blond girl squealed when she'd received the package, bouncing up and down as she clutched at her pink purse. "It's gonna be super pretty!"

"Uh... I guess so," Vent frowned, trying not to look bored as the little girl gushed over the skirt as he checked to make sure that the delivery was checked off before turning around to head back to his bike - and paused.

That had _not_ been on his bike before.

The teenager tilted his head as he looked at the oddly-shaped package, pulling out a handheld scanner to check if it was a bomb of sorts. It seemed innocent enough, and even the scan came out negative. Something for him? Something that someone wanted him to deliver?

The memory came back of _another_ oddly shaped package, that Giro and Aile had gone to deliver, and he couldn't help but shiver, intending to climb back onto his bike and go home now that all the deliveries were done, and perhaps play with Rush a bit.

Everything was going to be fine.

Of course, that would be when all hell finally broke loose.

The sound of explosions and screaming tore Vent from his thoughts, causing him to snap his head around in the direction that it had come from. He swore quietly, hopping onto his bike and heading in that direction.

_"You're going that way?"_

He blinked, shaking his head and wondering if the explosion had knocked his hearing silly, but he ignored it, eyes steeling when he saw mechaniloids firing at the buildings. Mavericks. Leftovers from Slither Inc that had gone rogue after Aile had destroyed it? Wild mechaniloids from the Outlands? He didn't know, but right now, he didn't care to find out.

Vent slowed the bike down, intending to find something that he could use as a weapon against them - a pole, a rock, some rubble that he could crush them under, _something_ until the Guardians got there to assist. He found a metal pole quickly enough, and picked it up. He had no training at all in a melee fighting style - who would, in this day and age, except the Guardians - but that didn't mean that he was going to run away and leave the other civilians here.

_"Gonna try to be a hero, then?"_

Vent darted forward, bashing the first Maverick on the head as it focused on the woman below it. "Run!" he yelled to her, and only looked after her long enough to make sure that she had gotten out of the line of fire before going for a second Maverick. Having not actually expected someone that could fight back, the Mavericks fell quickly enough - long enough for the remaining civilians to get away - and the teenager breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't look like anyone had been hurt.

Whatever Aile had done, it hadn't been enough if Mavericks were still out there.

That relief was quickly dashed when the ground rumbled underneath him, and a giant robot, shaped much like a crab, burst out of the ground, its pincers clicking menacingly. It reached for him, and Vent did the first thing that he could think of - hold the pole he'd been using up against its pincer.

It startled it, but all it did was give him time to back away a few steps, not too far from where his bike had fallen from the earthquake.

Vent swore, his weapon useless, as he looked around for something else that he could use.

_"It's useless. You should run, boy."_

And again with the voice. "No way!" Vent shouted, unsure as to where the speaker was. "If I leave it, it'll destroy the entire city!" He grabbed a rock on the ground, backing up a few steps and throwing it at the crab mechaniloid. The pincers batted it aside immediately and it slammed its other pincer on the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked Vent down. "No...!"

 _"Guess it can't be helped."_ And for the first time, Vent realized that the voice was coming from the package on the ground - or rather, what had been _inside_ the package. The brown wrapping was now torn open - whether from the shockwave or from falling off his bike, he didn't know, and he could now see the speaker.

It was, for lack of a better term, a hunk of metal, carved into an oval-ish shape with sharp edges in its features. Its primary colors were blue and pale green,, and white around the facial area, with a red crystal embedded in the center. Its eyes also glowed red, and for a moment Vent was unnerved; but the red was a different shade than the ones of the Mavericks.

What mattered more was that it was facing him and _floating_ , a gentle green glow pulsing around it. A mechaniloid? "What _are_ you?"

_"I'll show you how a real hero does things!"_

He reached out to grab it, but he didn't get the chance. The last thing he heard before everything went white was the metal-face speaking one more time.

_"Biolink established! M.E.G.A. System, online!"_

* * *

Even though it happened in milliseconds, for Vent, it felt like eternity. He could feel his blood flowing, as if the data from the Biometal was _merging_ with it. Off-white armor, not armor unlike the Mavericks, was materializing around him, his undersuit changing colors to a deep shade of blue instead of the black that he typically wore. Gold accents lined the boots that he now wore, and a small pair of pale off-white and gold fins jutted out from behind him.

Something settled onto his head, and somehow, without looking, he _knew_. Knew that there was a blue helmet on his head, with several spiky pale green and gold accent, and a red crystal in his forehead. And there was another presence inside of him, one that could only be identified as the rock from earlier that he had been talking to earlier. What in the world had _happened_?!

_"Ask questions later. Don't you have a Maverick scum to retire?"_

The words that it used were odd, but Vent wasted no time in heeding the other's advice. Before he could consciously decide what to do, the crab was on him, raising a pincer, and in panic, he pushed his arm up, a bright ball of plasma escaping from the end of the hole in his arm to hit the pincer - which shattered immediately under the force.

The crab reared back, and Vent used the opportunity to pull himself out from underneath it and stand up, panting in shock. A Buster... he had a Buster, and armor. He could actually /fight/ it, and possibly defeat it, and keep Innerpeace safe.

 _"I can do more than that!"_ He heard it scoff again. _"Switch my elements. I can shoot Fire, Ice, and Lightning!"_

After a bit of fumbling, he found out how to do just that, and it allowed him to use some more strategy - freezing the crab's legs prevented it from moving, and applying fire to them caused them to shatter from the heat shock. And shooting balls of lightning stunned it long enough for Vent to fire a charged shot through its processor. The crab mechaniloid slumped down, its battered body deactive and destroyed; without its processor, it would do nothing.

Vent waited, tense, in case something else popped up, but nothing happened, and he finally marveled at the power of this thing. What a versatile object! And it had just been _handed_ to him...?

_"Hehehe... now that is what a hero's like!"_

"Who are you?" Vent asked again.

_"Me? Biometal Model C. We make a good team, so you had better not give me away!"_

"Um... right..." Vent trailed off. "Why were you in that package, anyways?"

 _"How am I supposed to know? I woke up when I sensed a compatible host, and you had me and were in front of that Maverick."_ Vent felt odd and for a split second, his vision went white again. When his vision came back to himself, he was dressed in his normal clothes again, no worse for the wear, and Model C was floating in front of him.

"Er..." Vent trailed off, looking at the Biometal, and then at the remains of the Maverick. "Thanks for the help. Wouldn't have been able to do that without you."

_"Of course you wouldn't have. I was a hero, after all."_

Well, the Biometal certainly had an ego. Before Vent could say anything more, he heard a cry from behind him, and whirled around to see several green-uniformed people approaching. They were not who had caught his attention, however.

"Aile?"

She'd apparently dyed her hair _again_ , to a rich shade of red, and the yellow clothes he had to admit actually didn't look bad on her. But he would know his twin sister anywhere, and the look on her face suggested that he would have a _lot_ of explaining to do.

But for once, he was looking forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The little girl Vent delivered to:** It's Luca, from the first game! She was one of the two NPCs in ZX that changed Aile's clothing colors!


	2. Up High in the Sky

Vent didn't get too much of a chance to reflect as Aile threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly and nearly choking him, before she let go. "Vent... I'm glad that you're okay." Her eyes flickered towards the Biometal, and one of confusion crossed her face. "Is that a _Biometal_?"

That confirmed Vent's suspicions in a nutshell, and he reached out to let Model C float into his hand before speaking to her. "You _know_ what Biometal is. Those 'friends' that you mentioned in your letter, the ones that had only one letter for a name apiece... they're Biometals too, aren't I?"

She nodded, looking abashed as she realized just how cranky Vent was with her. "I'm sorry. I thought that if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't worry so much..."

"Stupid," he grumbled, thankful that Model C was staying silent throughout all of this. "You just wrote me one letter. That's it. Nothing else. You didn't even visit!" He gestured around them. "And then suddenly, you show up _here_ , at the same time as Model C showed up." Who had given him the Biometal, anyways?

Aile was silent for a few moments, before quietly saying, "I'm sorry again, Vent. I… really didn't think." The expression Vent gave her suggested that that much had been certain, and she hastily changed the subject. "What were you doing here, anyways?"

Vent pointed at his bike, which was now a mangled piece of metal due to his battle with the Mavericks. "Deliveries. What else? Someone had to do them, now that Boss and you aren't around." Giro's death still stung, but it had to have been more horrific for Aile, considering that she likely knew _how_ it had come about. "The bigger question is: what are _you_ doing here?"

" _I really hope that you aren't planning on forgetting about me_ ," Model C spoke up. " _I don't_ deserve _to be forgotten_."

"Right," Vent muttered. "Model C, this is my twin sister, Aile. Aile, this is… Model C, I suppose. Does the C stand for anything?"

" _Probably. If it did, I don't remember what it stands for,"_ the Biometal grumbled.

"I'll explain what I know to you since it looks like you're getting involved, but…" Aile frowned thoughtfully at the Biometal, before turning to one of the green-uniformed men that had run up. "Maquereau, do we really need to have him pass a test like I did to go to the Guardian Base? He _did_ destroy the Mavericks that we were coming to take care of quickly and efficiently."

Vent raised his eyebrows when his sister's cheeks turned red at the idea of the test. What had Aile so embarrassed about the supposed test?

"I think we can waive it just this once, given the situation," Maquereau nodded. "Unless he wants to join the Guardians, too?"

It was a very tempting offer, honestly. To fly around in an airship, battling Mavericks and making sure that no other children were orphaned and that no other people lost their loved ones – to protect those that couldn't protect themselves. And the plus side would be that he would know where Aile was at all times.

But he had a job to do. Giro Express, despite its employees, couldn't manage itself. He and Aile had been Giro's heirs, so that one or both of them could run the business. Aile was tangled up with the Guardians to a degree that she couldn't leave them, so that left only him.

"I'm gonna pass," the brunet said, before Aile could speak up again. "Thanks for the offer, uh… Maquereau, was it?"

"That's right," the man nodded. "If you ever do want to join, you'll have to speak to Commander Prairie about it. She'd be the one that would authorize the official test to be administered."

"And you guys won't get in trouble for letting me onboard?" Vent asked. Normally, he'd jump at the chance to go onboard a flying fortress, but two years of managing Giro Express on his own had both mellowed him out and made him less prone to jumping into situations without first assessing the potential risks and rewards.

" _Out of all the potential biomatches, I had to get stuck with one that worries too much."_

Aile giggled slightly at Model C's comment, though Maquereau didn't seem to hear it and gave the girl a puzzled glance. "No, no, don't worry Vent. I'll be the one to get in trouble, and besides… you're a Biomatch. I want to fill you in on what that entails before _other_ sources do."

"Biomatch? Other sources…?" He repeated, but he didn't get an answer as she waved him and the rest of the men (Guardians, Vent noted) towards the closest transerver station. Vent made sure to put Model C in his pocket before doing so, just in case other civilians saw them and commented on it. It would be an odd thing to the general public, after all.

One of the other Guardians, a red-haired female, was already there, keying something into the screen before giving them a thumbs up. "It's all set and ready to go," she told them.

"Please add in one guest, Oeillet," Aile requested, pointing to Vent. "My brother's coming with us; he's the one that took care of the situation here before we arrived."

The Guardian stared at him for a few moments, and then shrugged and keyed him into the transerver as Aile turned back to her brother. "You go on before me, I'll be right behind you."

Vent stepped onto the transerver after the rest of the Guardians had used it, not at all nervous. He preferred his bike – which, granted, was now destroyed and therefore useless so he had to get a new one – but there was no way to get to the Guardian Base without it. Maybe he should invest in a flying bike one day, that would be cool.

* * *

The transerver, as promised deposited him in a rather clean room with a large window. Vent stepped off and glanced out the window, giving a whistle of appreciation. He'd been in some tall apartment buildings before, to deliver packages, but the view he got there was _nothing_ compared to this. Their hometown, Cinq Ville, was so small when looked at, and all of Innerpeace could be seen with the deserts of the Outlands stretching out endlessly.

He could see why Aile had gotten attached to living here, if this was the kind of view that she saw every day.

" _Now this is more like it… being at the top of the world. Perfect."_

Model C finally slipped out of his pocket, facing the window. The Biometal clearly seemed to be enjoying the view just as much as Vent was, if not more, and the sound the Biometal made suggested that it would be looking gleeful if it had been capable of such a thing.

"I have the feeling that if you had been a real person, you would have lived at the top of the tallest tower that you could find, just so you could look at something like this," Vent told it.

" _Of course I would, I deserve it!"_ it scoffed to him, as Aile materialized on the transerver. The teenage boy turned back to his sister as she took a deep breath.

"Are you going to explain a few things, now?" Vent asked, crossing his arms. She gestured him to go out the door, and he wanted to groan. Aile's manner screamed that she was putting the subject off.

"Sorry Vent, just… at least let me introduce you to Prairie, because this is her base. I _promise_ that once we're done talking to her, I'll answer any questions that you have." Grimacing, Vent conceded that she had a point and silently followed her out of the room. A few nearby Guardians, not amongst the group that he had seen with his sister, greeted Aile when she came out and she introduced him back to them.

The entrance to the main deck was literally just down the hall from the transerver room, and Aile waited for the door to open before leading Vent inside.

Vent stared out in front of him at the view, Model C making a sound of appreciation. Nothing could compare to traveling on a ship at this speed. Nothing. His attention was drawn, however, when what appeared to be a blond teenage girl turned around on her seat and stood up. She was dressed mostly in pink and had a stuffed animal shaped like a cat with her, but her sharp blue eyes and her military-esque hat suggested that she was somebody extremely important.

" _She looks familiar. Her manner of dress… I cannot pinpoint it."_

"Maybe it'll come to you," Vent murmured to the Biometal, walking behind his sister as the two girls approached and hugged each other.

"Oh, you're back, Aile!" The blonde smiled warmly at her, letting go after the brief hug and putting her hands behind her back. "I heard that it was all taken care of?" Her eyes flickered to Vent before back to Aile, silently asking her who this boy was. "Aile, did you bring someone onboard without them taking the test?"

"This is my twin brother, Vent. He's… one too, Prairie," Aile sighed. The girl's eyes widened.

"Your brother is a Chosen One, too? That makes…" Prairie thought for a few moments. "Six Chosen Ones, so far." She stood up, turning to Vent. "Forgive me, I should have introduced myself to you first. I am Prairie, Commander of the Guardians."

"Prarie, huh? Nice to meet you." He supposed, at least. Regardless, Aile seemed to be completely comfortable around her, and she _did_ rule the Guardians – despite how young she looked – so she was okay in Vent's book for now.

"You too, Vent. In lieu of things, Aile can be forgiven for bringing you onboard without the test, and I don't have a reason to administer it at the moment," she told him.

Vent scratched his head. "Well, I wasn't looking to join right now, anyways… I was in the middle of work when the Biometal appeared and all of this happened." He winced, remembering what had happened to his bike.

"Oh yes, your Biometal," Prairie said. "Could I possibly see him – or her?"

" _Him_ ," Model C grumbled, but Prairie didn't seem to hear him. Nor did it seem like Model C expected her to hear him. Nevertheless, the Biometal obliged and flew out of Vent's pocket, glowing gently as he hovered in front of Prarie. _"There is definitely something familiar about this girl."_

Aile took a closer look at Model C now that he was out in the open and easily observed. "He looks a lot like you, Model X…"

" _That he does,"_ another voice said, causing Vent to nearly jump in surprise. However, Aile's Biometal, as he assumed the speaker was, didn't make an appearance.

"If it's not too much trouble, Vent," Prarie said, "I would like you to Megamerge with Model C, so that I can see what he looks like."

"Uh… I guess that's not too much trouble," he said, holding his hand out for Model C and lightly gripping the Biometal. "How do I Megamerge- whoa!"

As he said the word, the familiar armor appeared in a flash of light, and Vent craned his neck so that he could get a better look at it, before turning to view his reflection on the polished steel of the main deck. "Oh, you look cool, Model C."

" _Of course. A hero has to look good."_

Aile tilted her head. "I can see a resemblance to Model X… it's in the helmet, but not in the rest of the body. What do you think, Prairie?" A pause, before she said the commander's name again, turning to her. "Prairie?"

When Vent turned from his reflection to gaze at the Guardian Commander, he noticed that she had paled slightly, and had taken a step back from them. But at Aile calling her name, she snapped out of whatever daze she had been in, and shook her head. "Oh, excuse me. So that's what the Model C Megaman looks like…"

Vent demerged after some mental coaxing from Model C, as Prairie gave Aile a nod and turned back to Vent. "Anyways, Vent, was it?" the blonde said. "While you can't stay here long term without taking the test, you're welcome to stay here until we take you back to Giro Express." She nodded, thinking back, before a puzzled look came to her eyes. "Oh yes, Vent… if I may ask a few things of you?"

"What is it?" Vent said.

"Would it be too much trouble for you to allow one of our scientists to study your Biometal?" the Commander said. "He'll give it back unharmed – he's already studied Aile's, so she can confirm this herself." Vent turned to Aile, who nodded, and turned back to Prairie to give a nod of his own, despite Model C's nervous sound. "Wonderful! And one more question – where did you get your Biometal?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Aile mused.

"Beats me," Vent said with a frown. "I went to make a delivery and left my bike at the entrance to the building. When I came back, it was on the seat – at first I thought it was just another package that someone wanted delivered since I happened to be there, but there was no return address on it and then the Mavericks attacked, so I didn't get a chance to figure any of it out."

" _And don't ask me, I'll tell you what I already told Vent – I was asleep until the Maverick attack. Besides, it's a common trope for powerful, mythical heroes to be asleep before being awakened to battle scum."_

The brunet male couldn't help but roll his eyes at Model C's commentary. Where had the other _gotten_ that ego?

"I wonder… do you think it's possible that…?" Aile didn't finish her sentence, exchanging a concerned (hopeful?) look with each Prairie, before the red-haired girl smiled and stepped up to Vent. "Well… come on. We have to give Model C to Fleuve – he's the scientist – and then I'll tell you what happened with me."

Nodding, Vent followed her out. If she didn't talk to him soon, he was going to _make_ her.


	3. Gathering Information

"So where is this Fleuve person, anyways?" Vent asked after the door to the main deck had closed itself behind them. Model C was out, hovering behind them and making commentary to himself about the ship – some positive, some negative.

"Just here, actually," Aile pointed to a door not far from where they were. She waited for it to open, before leading her brother and Model C inside. "He's a little odd, but he's very intelligent and helpful when it comes to things like this."

Inside the room was what appeared to be a scientist's laboratory, with a large computer built into the wall and various research notes – both in physical form and in datadisks – scattered throughout the room in a method of organization that only the owner would know. Peering intently at the computer was a very short old man wearing green goggles and dressed in blue with a white mustache and beard, about half of his and Aile's height, his fingers flying over the keys at an incredible speed.

The man only noticed that they were in there when Aile cleared her throat, and turned around. "Ah, Aile! What brings you here?" he asked.

"Fleuve, this is my brother, Vent," Aile said, stepping forward and introducing the two of them. "Vent, this is Fleuve, the top scientist here on the Grand Nuage."

"Uh, hi there," the brunet male said, unable to keep his eyes off of the tiny man. He had only seen children that were that short. Most older people tended to be taller than average, as if reflecting their age, and Reploids tended to be taller as well. But Fleuve was definitely the shortest Reploid man he had ever met.

Fleuve stepped forward and held his hand out so that Vent could shake it. "Much obliged." Despite the politeness, his tone suggested that he was clearly wondering why Aile had brought Vent to meet him, and then his eyes landed on the floating Biometal.

"We have something you might be interested in," Aile said as she gestured to Model C, and the little old man all but jumped in delight, clapping his hands together once.

"A Biometal? One that I have not seen before?" Fleuve said, sounding excited. "Who would have guessed that there were even more out there…" He squinted at the Biometal. "It looks like your Model X, Aile."

" _I'm Model C_ ," the Biometal said, sounding a little cranky at being talked _at_ like that, but Fleuve, like Prairie, didn't seem to be able to hear him.

"This is Model C," Aile told Fleuve. "My brother found him earlier and used him to fend off a Maverick attack. He looks a lot like Model X, but we don't know who made him or why – apparently someone knew that Vent was a potential Biomatch and left him for him to find."

Fleuve scratched his beard, pondering that. "I have a few theories, but I won't know for sure, but I would like to do two things. First, Vent, since both you and your sister are Biomatches, and since there's records of another pair of siblings that are Biomatches as well, I would like to run a scan on you to see if there's a genetic factor in common."

"Who are the other pair?" Vent asked, blinking.

Aile coughed quickly. "We don't actually _have_ scans of the two of them in place, just of me and Giro and a few older scans of _him_ back when he was with the Guardians…" She frowned. "But I know those two are brother and sister as well." At Vent's curious look, she fidgeted. "I'll tell you in a bit."

"What's the second thing, then?" Vent said, turning back to Fleuve, who eagerly looked up at Model C. The Biometal hung back, the glow around him slowing down in a wary fashion.

"I would _love_ to examine your Biometal and get some data on it!" the scientist said, clearly excited. "You see, we only have the data on seven Biometals, including Aile's six, and we believed that her six were a complete, custom-made set in response to the seventh. Your Biometal could be part of a new set, or have completely different origins!"

" _Wait. So he is essentially going to do_ brain surgery _on me?"_ Model C said, huffing. _"Is that anyway to treat a hero?"_

"Don't you want to find out who you are?" Vent asked him. "I know I would."

The Biometal grumbled a bit. _"Yes, but must it involve brain surgery?"_

"Unless you can think of another way to figure it out, then no, you have to get yourself examined. Besides, I'm getting examined too, and you didn't speak up about that," Vent pointed out. Fleuve was about to interrupt the two of them, when Aile discreetly hushed him.

" _Yes, but you are a Reploid, merely getting a scan as to check your components,"_ Model C said.

"Human, actually, not Reploid."

"… _What? No, no. No human has that many mechanical components on them_." Vent got the impression that had Model C been capable of it, he would have frowned and tilted his head.

"No, I'm human. Besides, it doesn't matter, we're all the same nowadays. The only difference is that I was born and not built."

Model C was silent for a few moments as he processed this information. _"…Humans and Reploids… equal?"_ The concept was unfamiliar to the Biometal, and it made him wonder what _else_ had changed while he had been alive – he was sure he had been alive, at least, and that Reploids and humans hadn't been equal.

"Anyways," Vent said. "Just get the scan done. It won't hurt for Model C, will it?" He turned to Fleuve and Aile, silently asking for confirmation of the fact.

"Of course not!" Fleuve looked almost offended at the idea, and Aile had to stifle a giggle.

"Don't be silly, of course not. X and the others are fine after Fleuve was done with them, and four of them were literally _split in half_ with no consequences whatsoever." Despite Aile's reassurances, Vent was sure that she wasn't telling him the full story – apparently Biometals surviving being split in half like that made them unique compared to Reploids and humans. "Anyways, Model C, why don't you ask Model X? Fleuve has examined him before, after all."

"…" Model C didn't even grumble as he finally turned to Aile's Biometal, oddly at ease to confer with the other, almost as if he respected him.

" _You will be fine_ ," Model X assured him, glowing a gentle blue as Aile watched the two of them thoughtfully. _"It will leave you a little dizzy for a few minutes, but the process itself is painless. You won't even know that he is prodding at you other than the slight dizziness."_

"… _Alright."_ Model C turned back to Vent. _"I'll let him poke and prod at me after he scans you_."

"He'll do it," Vent said out loud to Fleuve, as it appeared he couldn't hear the Biometal. "But after you scan me, he says."

Fleuve still appeared eager as he gestured Vent over to his scanner and ran the scan on him, watching as Vent's vitals and the schematics for his cybernetic components came up on the screen. Once he was done, Vent stepped away and watched Model C expectantly.

When the Biometal hesitated, Vent plucked him out of the air, causing him to yelp, and handed him over to Fleuve. The little old man grabbed the Biometal eagerly, immediately heading over to start his examination on it.

"This will take some time," Fleuve told them without looking up at the two of them. "So I'll call you when I am done examining it."

Vent leaned over to check if Model C was okay, but the Biometal was neither protesting nor struggling to escape, only grumbling a little bit, so he headed out of the room with Aile. "I'll be back later, Model C."

" _Fine, fine._ " The door closed after the two of them left, and Vent turned towards his sister.

"We should find something to do," Aile mused, walking down the halls of Guardian HQ. "I could introduce you to a few of the others… or we could—"

"— _Or_ you could answer my questions finally," Vent interrupted, firmly but gently grabbing her arm.

"But Vent—"

"No more buts," he said, irritated; Aile just kept putting it off! "I've waited long enough. You and Boss disappear two years ago on what was supposed to be a routine delivery, while I worry about where the two of you have been, and then _finally_ a letter shows up, suggesting that you had gotten into something way over your heads, and that Boss was dead, and now I know that it has something to do with these Biometals – like Model C? I'm involved now, whether you want me to be or not. You owe me an explanation, and I'm getting it _now_."

The red-haired girl was silent for a few seconds. "Alright. But let's go to my room first. I'll… tell you everything there." Her brother nodded, and he released her arm so that she could lead him there.

* * *

Her rooms weren't far from the main deck, and he stepped inside after she typed in the code to unlock the door, watching the door close behind her.

Her rooms were fairly nice, about as nice as it had been in Giro Express. It was clean, with a couple of vibrant green plants, a bed with blue sheets, a desk with a single chair, and a closet – not the walk-in kind – that contained Aile's clothes in various colors. A smaller door led to what he assumed was the bathroom.

Aile sat down on the bed and gestured to the spot next to her. He obliged and sat down, crossing his legs. "Okay, Vent," she said slowly. "I guess this starts a really, really long time ago, but I can only tell you what I know."

"Fine by me." He didn't expect anything different.

"…First, you remember what happened during the Maverick attack when we were five, right?" Aile asked him. When Vent nodded, she continued. "Right. Giro was the one that saved us, and he used a Biometal to do so – Model Z."

"Model Z?" he repeated, remembering it as one of the 'people' that Aile had mentioned in her letter. "If Boss is… dead… then where is Model Z now?"

"I'll get to that in a bit," she said. "Anyways, Giro saved us and raised us as his own, even when he later found out that the people that survive Maverick attacks tend to be Chosen Ones and biomatches." She scowled. "Of course, those attacks, and a lot of the others, were no ordinary Maverick attacks. It was actually something that Slither Inc. was doing – engineering high-scale Maverick attacks and then swooping in and saving people to make themselves look good."

"…That's sick," Vent growled, clenching his fists. "Mom and countless other people died because of _their_ egos?!"

"It was disgusting, that's what," Aile said, wrinkling her nose. "The worst part was that a lot of employees for Slither Inc. had no idea that it was such a huge conspiracy. Only Serpent, who was a Biomatch himself, and a few of the higher ups, knew anything at all about this."

"I remember, you mentioned that he was a Maverick in your letter. Which was _his_ Biometal?" Vent asked, still glaring at a spot on the floor.

"Model W," she told him. "It's… there's something _wrong_ with that Biometal. The main portion of it was huge, and his portion was so small… It never spoke, and barely moved, but it appeared to be… watching. Observing."

" _It is a tool of destruction,"_ Model X spoke up finally. _"The core had to be destroyed, Aile. Without it, the smaller portions aren't as powerful. You did the right thing, no matter what happened."_

"I know, but…" She trailed off.

"Something's bugging you," Vent said, focusing on his sister. What else had been so unnerving about the Model W?

"I guess it's because even if Model X is right, and it's what I do that matters more than who I am, it's just a weird feeling knowing that we're apparently related to the creator of Model W."

"...Oh. That's it?"

Aile stared at him.

"Dummy. So what if we're related to some creep? That just means we've gotta make sure we're great people. And it's not like anyone would _know_ , right?"

"I… I suppose so. Thanks a lot, Vent," she smiled.

"No problem. Anyways, you haven't talked about everything," Vent reclined on the bed. "I've figured out who 'X' and 'Z' were from your letter, and you mentioned a 'W'. But you met a bunch of others, didn't you? More Biometals?"

Aile nodded again. "H, P, L, and F. They don't have biomatches like X, Z, and C do, but they and X and Z were a set designed to stop Model W. And X has a special ability that lets me merge with him and a second Biometal together," she explained. "So I know what all six of them can be capable of."

"Speaking of them, where're they all now?" As far as Vent knew, Aile was only carrying Model X.

"They're down at the main Guardian research lab," she explained. "There's a branch of the Guardians there that conducts research, and they're studying them – with their permission, of course. I was actually going to pick them up soon."

" _We've theorized that some Biometals can have more than one biomatch due to some… things that we have witnessed,_ " Model X explained. _"But others cannot seem to. We know of my Biomatch, Aile, but Aile is unable to single Megamerge with anyone other than myself so far. Girouette was unable to Megamerge with myself, but could easily biomatch with Model Z. We have yet to find individuals that can Megamerge with Models H, P, L, and F."_

Vent frowned. "And Model W? Was it only Serpent?"

Aile shook her head. "No. Two biomatches other than Serpent had Model W Biometals."

Something that she had mentioned at Fleuve's laboratory clicked in Vent's mind. "Those two siblings that you mentioned before?"

The red-haired girl nodded, absentmindedly playing with a design on her pillow. "Yes, them, Prometheus and Pandora. Don't ask me to explain them because I really… don't know what makes the two of them tick." She was sure that she would never understand them. "And the two of them and Serpent were completely different powerwise, when Megamerged."

"You mentioned that X has a special ability. Maybe this is W's?" he suggested, filing away the information on Prometheus and Pandora for another time; if that _indeed_ was the case, then he was probably going to have to deal with them at some point. "Merging with multiple people to have different abilities? It's the only one that can so far…"

Aile looked thoughtful for a moment, and then lightly pushed Model X towards Vent. "Why don't you try merging with Model X and see if you two can?"

"Me? With Model X?" Vent blinked at the blue Biometal that so resembled Model C. "You sure that we should just… try it like this?"

" _I am not opposed to it,"_ Model X said, hovering at the same level as Vent's face. _"The worst that can happen is that nothing happens_. _And if it works, we have more data on trying to understand how we Biometals work._ "

"He's right, Vent," the young woman said. "Go ahead and try, then."

Shrugging, Vent stood up, reaching out to let Model X hover into his hand. "…Same way as I Megamerge with Model C?"

"Yup." Aile nodded, and Vent took a deep breath as he stared at Model X.

"Okay. Megamerge!"

The process wasn't as glamorous as it had been the first time that he had Megamerged with Model C. Blue armor appeared on him almost as quickly as he had said the word. The armor was not as flashy as Model C's was. In fact, it appeared to be a more simplistic version of Model C's armor but in a blue palette, and a look into the mirror confirmed it – the helmet was identical but lacking the whitish-green spikes that Model C's helmet had.

Vent gazed down at the armor, twisting his body so that he could see how it looked. "…Huh. It worked."

"Wow, you look just like I do in it," Aile commented, intrigued. "When I double-Megamerged with Model Z, I looked more like a cross between how Giro looked dressed as Model Z and how Model X looks…"

" _Interesting,"_ Model X's voice came from inside his head. _"I suppose all that remains to be seen is if Model C can Megamerge with Aile, though I expect that he can."_

"You think it's because we're twins?" Vent asked out loud. His sister rolled her eyes.

"Idiot, this isn't one of the video games at Morgan's arcade. We're _fraternal_ twins. We're no more related than normal brothers and sisters."

"S-Shut up," her brother said, embarrassed. That _was_ a common thing in video games and comic books, and he had always been a little too fond of them in his youth.

"It's more likely that it's because we're siblings…" she mused. "I guess we'll find out if I can use Model C – without double-Megamerging with Model X. I'm interested in seeing what a double Megamerge with Model C is like, too, and if there are any differences…"

"Speaking of Model C, think the old man – er, Fleuve – is done examining him yet?" he asked, de-merging from Model X without any prompting. There wasn't a threat around, and he felt strange dressing up in Aile's outfits, no matter how gender-neutral, after a rather… awkward incident in his youth.

"Yes, he didn't take all that long when he was examining the others, and Vent, you really should be nicer when talking about him," Aile sighed and held her hands out as Model X floated back towards her. "I know he's a little eccentric and eager, but he won't keep Model C from you since you're the confirmed Biomatch."

Vent strode towards the door, opening it and stepping into the doorway before turning back to look at Aile. "Well, I don't know about you, but I want to go check if he's at least close to being done. I know he said he'd call, but yeah." He really wanted Model C back.

Aile and Model X looked at each other, and nodded as the red-haired woman got up to follow him outside. "Alright. We should probably tell him about how you can Megamerge with Model X as well, and see what he makes of that."

The door shut as the pair of siblings strolled down the hall towards Fleuve's lab. Vent still had more questions for Aile, but those would have to wait later.

At least she had finally answered _some_ of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few notes for the curious since this is a good place as any to talk about a few things:
> 
> - **Aile claiming to be related to you-know-who:** That's pure conjecture on her part, because that hadn't been revealed in ZX and so far she'd had no way to find out.
> 
> - **Aile being a redhead and dressing in yellow:** For those of you that didn't play around in the games, there's an optional thing where if you talk to either of two NPCs, they will change Aile's palette (they do not extend this courtesy to Vent). Aile having red hair and yellow clothes is my favorite of the palette swaps, and is one of the few that doesn't seem to be tied to an existing Megaman character.
> 
> - **Fitting into canon or not?:** This fic is designed so that, while it obviously isn't 100% canon, can still slip into canon while I play around with a few of the things. Canon events to the Aile/Grey storyline have occurred (ZX) and will occur (ZXA).
> 
> - **The twin thing:** I've seen it a lot, where people have fraternal twins be just as close as identical twins. Genetics shows that they are no more related than normal siblings, however, and I wanted to debunk that Model X can merge with Vent only because they are twins. If they'd been normal siblings and not twins, he still would've been able to do it.
> 
> - **Speaking of, why twins?:** For one, it seems weirder to me that they aren't related given how similar they are (in more than just looks). Two, they're confirmed to be the same age, and they both exist in promo material and ZXA's ciphers, so twins explains that. Three, it's to flat-out state that there is no chance of romance between the two.


	4. Model CX

Model C had been muttering to himself the entire time that Fleuve had been examining him; the little old man had hooked him up to some data reader and had been 'oohing' and 'ahhing' the entire time as information crawled across the screen that he had. Truthfully, the Biometal hadn't understood any of it, other than the fact that the process of data extraction hadn't been as painful as he'd been dreading.

To be fair, he couldn't claim that it had _hurt_. Model X had been right on that part – he just felt a little bit dizzy. But his metaphorical brain was being picked at, and it was a strange process. He doubted that the Humans and Reploids here would enjoy it.

" _Are you done yet?_ " He had grumbled at Fleuve multiple times throughout. Of course, the other couldn't hear him, and merely continued his work, leaving the bored Biometal to sigh.

Model C didn't mind too much; it gave him a lot of time to think, something that he hadn't had time to do while he had been fighting those Mavericks with Vent, or meeting with these Guardian people. He'd never really been one to think (right?), so it was a good time to get practice in.

Of course, the first thing that he thought about was his Chosen One.

Vent. He knew very little about him – just what he looked like, that he had mechanical parts inside of him despite being a Human, and the fact that he was compatible with him. He didn't even know his last name, or whether he had any other relatives besides Aile. Though not too young, he still had a bit of impulsiveness to him that Model C could understand and appreciate; he hadn't hesitated to jump into the fight when he had coaxed him to do it.

The Biometal would like to learn more about him.

Then there was Vent's sister, Aile, who looked nothing like her brother if the dark red hair and pale skin had been any indication. She intrigued him, what with the knowledge she had about Biometals – it was more than him – and he wanted to fly out of the room and ask her what in the world was going on here that had left her estranged from her brother for so long. From the sound of things, Aile hadn't even written to Vent in a couple of years.

And then there was Model X. He didn't even know the other Biometal, but something about the other's aura suggested that he was old and knew more about him than he did himself. He was fairly sure that their normal form's similar appearances weren't a coincidence by any means, and he wondered whether it extended to the forms that their Biomatches got when they were used.

Finally, there was that Prairie girl. He'd never met her before, right? But that blond hair, the pink clothes, the blue eyes, and the commanding presence that she gave… she reminded him of somebody. Somebody that made him feel angry, hurt, and confused.

"Hmm, hmm…" Fleuve squinted at the screen, looking puzzled as he scratched at his beard. "Interesting…"

" _What is it?"_ Model C asked, forgetting that he couldn't hear him. Of course, he got no response, causing him to give an exasperated, impatient sigh. Really, he was going to rust from old age before he got out of here, wasn't he?

Fleuve turned off the data scanner without even looking and continued staring at the screen. It took Model C a few moments to realize that Fleuve was no longer scanning him. Nor was he doing anything with him.

And he still couldn't move his body, hooked up to the data scanner as he was. _"H-Hey! Let me out of here!"_ he commanded, attempting to pry himself out of it.

But it was all in vain, as Fleuve didn't notice his motions, and he was ready to _scream_.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Vent asked, tilting his head as he and Aile walked towards Fleuve's laboratory. "That sounded like C was yelling 'Let me out of here!' to me."

Covering her mouth with her hands, Aile giggled. "He's either really impatient, or Fleuve forgot to take him out of the scanner."

"You sound pretty sure of yourself," her brother noted.

She nodded. "Fleuve has scanned all of them several times… F is very impatient and always makes rants about how much he wants to get out of there. L and Z aren't fond of the scanners themselves, though X, H, and P are more patient than them."

There were those other names again. He'd still only met X so far, and hadn't even heard the others comment. Surely if there were six of them, he would have seen the other five by now. "Speaking of them," Vent said, "Where are th-"

" _V-Vent! Where are you? Make him t-take me out!"_ the angry Biometal's voice came from the laboratory.

Vent winced, waiting for the door to open before he stepped inside with Aile. He immediately went over to his annoyed Biometal as Aile went to greet Fleuve. "Hello again, Fleuve."

"Ah, Aile!" He greeted her with a happy smile. "I've just finished examining this Biometal, and you both'll be interested in what I found!"

She smiled at him. "That's wonderful! But before you tell us, can you remove Model C from the machine? He seems quite impatient."

"Of course, of course," he said, turning back to the scanner and tapping a few buttons to unhook Model C from it. The slightly dizzy Biometal shot up immediately, wobbling a bit in the air as Vent reached out to catch him.

"Are you okay, C?" Vent asked, concerned.

" _I will be once this has worn off,_ " Model C grumbled, flopping down in his Biomatch's hands. _"Really, is that anyway to treat a h-hero like me? I can't believe he_ forgot _to take me out."_

Vent bit his lip, trying not to laugh at Model C's situation. He got the feeling the Biometal wouldn't appreciate his amusement very much – Model C seemed, so far, to be the sort to take everything seriously and had a large ego. Upsetting him could end up bad if he refused to cooperate as a result.

The Biometal simply huffed again and stopped moving. _"And he refused to tell me what he even found."_

Right. "Fleuve, what did you find?" Aile asked him, settling down in one of the chairs. Model X floated beside her, his glow gentle.

"Yes yes!" The little old man pushed a few buttons on his console, showing what appeared to be Model C's schematics on the screen. "The overall construction of Model C is highly similar to the other six Biometals in your possession, Aile. Some of the data is very different though. I do not believe he belongs in the same set as your other six."

"Really?" Aile frowned.

"Yes. The deep scans revealed no passwords inside of him, and while he appears to be based off of the other six, there are major differences that suggest he was either a unique creation by someone that has never seen a Model W, which is unlikely, or reverse-engineered off of something else."

"Reverse-engineered?" Vent blinked, trying to understand where they were going with this. Aile turned to her brother.

"Model X and the other five were heavily based off of Model W, to the point where it's clear that their creator, Prairie's sister, reverse-engineered them from it," she explained. "Fleuve's saying that Model C doesn't follow that."

" _Wonderful,"_ Model C muttered. _"So we do not know anything about me."_

Fleuve nodded at Aile. "I am fairly sure that Model C is a creation of the Commander's sister, as I doubt there would be anyone else intelligent enough to create a unique Biometal; she was one of the most brilliant minds that has ever existed, and there is a piece of code in him that matches every other creation of her. Therefore, it is likely that there is something else out there that Model C was reverse-engineered off of."

"So if we find whatever that is, we'll have a clue," Vent said. "But we have no idea what we're looking for, don't we?"

"Right," Aile said, turning back to Fleuve. "Was that all, or was there something else that you noted as interesting?"

"Yes, of course." Fleuve started speaking again. "Judging from the relative wear and tear on the materials and data found, it seems that he was constructed much later than the other six."

Aile's eyes widened. That meant that, after what had happened with Serpent 's betrayal and the creation of her six, she had still been alive.

"Does Prairie know?" she asked, looking anxious. Fleuve shook his head.

"Not yet. I suspected it, but I did not want to get the Commander's hopes up."

" _I don't remember anything about her, though,"_ Model C pointed out, and Vent repeated his words so that Fleuve could hear.

"Which is a problem!" He twirled his beard, before letting go of it. "Very well. I still have more data to look through, so if I discover something else, I will let you know."

Vent stood up. "I'm fine with that," he said. "Come on, C… maybe we can experiment a bit."

" _Experiment?"_ If Model C had had a nose, he would be wrinkling it. He was done with experiments and being test subjects for today and he didn't want to do something like that again.

" _Oh yes_ ," Model X said, as Aile stood up to follow the two of them out. _"We did discover something interesting, but…"_ And here, Model X's voice became a little playful, _"while Fleuve would find it interesting as well, consider this revenge for not releasing you from the data extractor."_

At that, Model C perked up, his tone more interested. _"Well then, I suppose I can assist for the sake of science."_

Aile and Vent looked at each other. Aile looked like she was fit to double over laughing at any moment, and Vent had a huge grin on his face.

"So, uh, where's the training center?" Vent asked.

"We don't have one," his sister explained, scratching her head. "The Guardians don't actually fight – we're more of a rescue operation than actively trying to destroy Mavericks. We worry more about the populace and making sure that they are safe."

"…Could've used the Guardians back then," he grumbled. She sighed.

"They did come to help, but they found out too late. The… incident was _very_ well-covered up, even back then. That didn't stop them from trying to save people, though… that was how we met Giro, remember?" Aile opened the door to her room and stepped inside.

"Yeah, how can I forget?" If it hadn't been for Giro, the two of them likely would not have survived that incident. Speaking of... whatever had happened to that Maverick? Vent filed the thought away for later. A few years ago, he would have immediately demanded information on the Maverick that killed his mother, in an attempt to get justice and revenge for her. But now… he had matured in the past few years, and he knew that such a quest was likely futile at the moment.

"Anyways, this experiment," Aile said. "We're siblings, which means we're similar genetically. We tested out whether Vent could merge with Model X, and it sounded like he could—"

" _You merged with another Biometal?! Without telling m-me?!"_ Model C sounded upset, shooting out of Vent's hands and 'facing' him.

Vent held his hands up to try to placate the angry Biometal, a bit relieved that he couldn't show emotions like a person could. "You were being examined! And it was curiosity to see if it was even possible!"

" _Besides, Model C_ ," Model X said gently. _"We want to test two things right now to see if they are possible, and both of them involve you."_

" _Me?"_ Model C said. If Biometals could puff up proudly, he would have.

"Yeah," said Aile. "The first thing we want to see is if you can merge with me, like X can merge with Vent."

Model C turned to eye her, hovering in front of her as if studying her as intently as he could. Finally, the Biometal relented. _"Fine. I'll do it."_

Aile stepped in front of Model C, reaching out to carefully take the Biometal in her hand. "Megamerge!"

" _Biolink established! M.E.G.A System, Online!"_

"Is that what it looks like?" Vent commented to no one in particular as he watched his sister and biometal fuse together. "Looks like one of those magical girl transformations from Aile's old comic books."

" _It's possible that the scientist that developed Biometals was a fan of those_ ," Model X said.

Soon enough, Aile was dressed in similar armor to him, and he glanced her over. Same white-gold armor, same decorations, and (probably) the same weaponry, even similar facial features. Just noticeably more _feminine_ , which made sense given Aile's body shape.

"… _This feels s-strange,"_ Model C said as Aile looked herself over. _"Get a good look, because I'm not doing this again. It doesn't feel r-right."_

"Model X had no complaints fusing with me," Vent said, confused.

" _This body shape is wrong,"_ Model C said grumpily, as dawning crossed Aile's expression and she giggled, before demerging with him. _"There, that's b-better."_

"What's the matter?" Vent asked.

Aile was biting her lip, trying not to laugh at the Biometal's expense. "I don't think Model C is used to… certain things on girls. Or _not_ on girls."

"L- oh. Too much information, sis!" Vent groaned, and then glanced over at Model X. "…And this one is used to that?"

" _I am not going to say anything,"_ came the calm response as Model X floated back over to his biomatch, and Model C to his with a look of relief.

"He's been Megamerging with me for a year, Vent, I think he's used to it. At least he's not a pervert," Aile pointed out. It would have been very awkward for a female biomatch and a male biometal had one or both of them been perverted enough to make lewd comments about each other.

"And he would have found himself with Fleuve had he been," Vent muttered.

Aile chose not to reply to that statement, but her expression and Model X's sudden quietness suggested that Vent was right on target.

" _Anyways,"_ Model X spoke up after a moment. _"There was one other thing that we wanted to test out._ _This involves the both of us, Model C."_

" _Y-You?"_ Model C asked, sounding a little baffled.

"See, X's abilities are a little different from the rest of the Biometals that I've encountered," Aile explained. "Most Biometals have their own powers, an element, and special weapons. However, most will only merge with their Chosen One. X is unique in the sense that his Chosen One can merge with him _and_ another Biometal – at the same time – as long as the host is in good shape."

She would never forget when she had Double Megamerged for the first time… if only it hadn't involved Giro's death.

"So," Vent said slowly, "You want to see if X can Double Megamerge with C, right? Does this work for _all_ Biometals or just the ones that were based off of Model W?"

"I don't know," Aile admitted. "It worked with Z and the others, and I can't Megamerge with them individually at all. I've tried. So it'd test two things just by seeing if I can Double Megamerge with X and C."

" _D-Does this mean I have to merge with a girl again?"_ Model C asked; he would be frowning were he able to.

Aile giggled at his reaction, causing a huff from him. "Well, if it bothers you that much, you two can Double Megamerge with Vent." She didn't mind; Biometals tended to be more attached to their Chosen Ones. Model Z's was Girouette, so he no longer _could_ merge with his Chosen One, and the other four… she had no idea who their Chosen Ones were, nor did they know. And Model W was eerily quiet from what she remembered; she'd never heard it speak while merged with Serpent.

Model C perked up again. _"Well, in that case, I'm w-willing to try it out."_

Model X seemed to be fine with it, so Vent reached out to let both of the Biometals fly into his hands, and then looked at them awkwardly before turning back to Aile. "So, uh… how does this work? Same way?"

She nodded. "Double Megamerges work the same way."

"Gotcha…" Vent took a deep breath. "Double Megamerge!"

" _Biolink established! M.E.G.A. System, Online!"_

The suit of armor that Vent ended up wearing was fairly different from Model C by himself. The helmet was fairly similar, though the spikes were bent at a different angle than he was used to, and he had the kneeguards and fancy decorations on his ankles. The color scheme, however, was a rather dark shade of blue.

"That's… different," Vent noted. "Looks a bit like a cross of X and C. Is this what it is supposed to look like?"

"Z looked a little different than he did fused with X, too," Aile told him, as Vent inspected himself a little further. "Z, for one, didn't have a _helmet_ by himself, and he was a slightly different shade of red. This looks… way more different than I expected. Maybe it's because X and C aren't from the same set?"

Model C had gone very, very quiet, before speaking up. _"I'm n-not comfortable with th-this."_

Model X didn't seem all that comfortable, either. _"I agree. Vent, Aile, may we demerge?"_

A little confused, as the two seemed to get along, Vent mentally agreed and soon enough he had demerged from the two Biometals. Model X hovered back to Aile, while Model C stayed near Vent.

Despite waiting for a few moments, neither Biometal seemed to want to speak up as to what exactly had made them uncomfortable about the whole process, so Vent let it go for ow and turned to his sister. "So, Aile… where are the other Biometals? You mentioned five others?"

He'd been meaning to ask that for some time, now, since it looked as if Aile hadn't been volunteering the information.

"Oh! The Guardian land base has a laboratory that wanted some data on the Biometals," Aile said. "They were fine with letting the Guardians study them, so I took X back once they were done with him and left the others there. They should be about done, so I was going to head over there in a couple of days and retrieve them. I don't like leaving them alone for too long."

"A few days, huh?" Vent mused, glancing down at Model C. "Well, I'd like to head back home for now, but you mind if I tag along to meet them when you do head on over? And Aile, this time, _keep in touch_ , if only so I don't have to wonder if you are dead or not!"

Aile had the decency to look sheepish. "I'll keep in touch, Vent. I'll walk you to the Transerver."

The four of them left Aile's room, heading for where the Transerver was located. Vent stepped on the Transerver with Model C, and turned to his sister again.

"Hey, Aile…" He start, and then shook his head. "Never mind, I can ask you later."

She tilted her head, and even Model C made a noise of confusion, but Aile nodded. "See you around, brother."

Vent grinned and nodded, before he and Model C were enveloped in light and transported out.

* * *

Once the two of them were gone, Aile took a deep breath. "…Model X, why were you uncomfortable merging with Model C?"

The Biometal would be frowning were it able to. _"It was the strangest feeling, Aile. It was like I was merging with myself… but at the same time, a facsimile of myself."_

"Huh…" She glanced over at the Transerver were Vent had been. How odd. She'd thought everything had been settled once she had destroyed Serpent and Model W. But that didn't seem to be the case.

For one, Prairie's sister had found the need to make another Biometal that hadn't had a password. And if she hadn't reverse-engineered it off of Model W, what _had_ she reverse-engineered it from? Two, if the other Biometals she had made were based off of legendary heroes, and who knew what Model W was made off of, then who or what was Model C based off of? And three, Prometheus and Pandora were out there, somewhere. She didn't know what made them tick, but they were persistent and she doubted that they would just be content with Serpent's death and Model W's destruction.

Vent didn't want to be involved, Aile knew that much… but she had the feeling that he would be whether he wanted to or not. His life would be in danger, and he would probably have to fight other people.

And this was why she had never told him in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post-story notes!
> 
> - **Action:** There'll be a little bit more action. Fight scenes are not what I am best at (I tend to love exposition and story-telling) but Model C's only fight won't be with that mechaniloid at the start, don't worry.
> 
> - **Length:** I don't think this fic will end up being too long. Like I've probably mentioned before, it's an in-between sidestory featuring what happens to the player character that you didn't select, not an epic adventure. In this case, Vent. Of course, this means there might be another story, after this one is done, featuring a certain pale-haired ZXA protagonist that doesn't get picked by Model A. Stay tuned…


	5. There's Trouble Afoot

The next few days passed by quickly for Vent, burying himself in his work at Giro Express and taking care to keep the company dependable after the recent Maverick attack. A lot had happened during that day, and he was still mulling the information that he had received over in his mind. In fact, if it hadn't been for the news of that Maverick attack and one rather cranky Biometal, he wouldn't have believed it.

And yet Model C was there, sticking close by and complaining loudly whenever Vent had to hide him when another employee came in.

At the least, none of them were able to _hear_ Model C; if they were Chosen Ones – which he doubted – then they never said anything about hearing strange voices.

Vent glanced down at the message he had just gotten from Aile; she was going to go pick up her other Biometals from the Guardian base on land, and was happy to let him come if he still wanted to. "Hey, Sho," Vent called.

His Reploid friend and employee looked up from where he'd been filing some of the paperwork. "What's up?"

"Can you run Giro Express for me today?" he asked him. "Aile asked me to go with her to do something, and you know how bad she's gotten at keeping in touch."

Sho laughed at that. "True that, geez, I had no idea that she'd run off with the Guardians without even telling anybody. Anyways, go on, I've got this covered. Maybe you can drag her back here for once so I can at least say hi!"

"I'll let her know that you said that," Vent grinned back, standing up and checking to see that he had his bag. He briefly unzipped it to check if Model C was inside. The other was there, but the dimness in his eyes suggested that he was either sleeping – did Biometals sleep? – or so bored that he wasn't paying attention to anything. "Anyways, thanks a bunch. I'll see you later."

Hopefully. It was doubtful that Aile would drag him into something big, he thought, as he darted out on foot to the nearest transerver.

…He really missed his bike.

* * *

About thirty minutes later, he was on the Guardian base and heading to where the rest of Aile's Biometals were.

For once, Aile hadn't completely altered her appearance; she still had dark red hair, a little longer than it had been two years ago and tied back to a ponytail. The outfit she was wearing was similar to the outfit of a Guardian higher-up, and it was yellow as well. He'd kept on his Giro Express uniform, a blue shirt and white pants, and his hair had gone just past his shoulders.

"You know," Vent pointed out as he noticed this, "You look like you could be a better match for C and I'd be a better match for X."

"C can't handle certain things, remember?" She said with a smile. "Besides, X and I have been working together for two years; it'd be strange to change now. How is C, anyways? I haven't heard him say anything the whole time we've been here."

Vent checked his bag, which he'd left unzipped once getting on the airship in case Model C wanted to come out. "His eyes are dimmed. Does that mean he's asleep?"

"Usually, yes," she told him. "I learned quickly that Biometals sleep, too. Despite how they look, they're alive and have basic needs like the rest of us."

A thought occurred to Vent. "Do they eat?" he asked, suddenly alarmed that he might have been _starving_ Model C. Though, the other had no mouth on his face…

"They can eat E-Crystals if they need it," Aile told him, "and W Energy that is used to recharge items. Sleeping helps them recover, but E-Crystals and W Energy speed it up. Using their more powerful abilities drains them."

Vent made a mental note to ask Model C about them later; he didn't want to have to discover them in a pinch. "Can you tell me a bit about the rest of them? Are they anything like X and C?" These two were vastly different in personality.

"Z… he's very serious, and he seems to be best friends with X," Aile said, nodding as she settled down into a chair. "When Giro was Megamerged with him, he got a visor and red armor, but no helmet, and his main weapon was a beam saber of sorts. Giro was perfect for him…" She trailed off for a moment, and Vent grimaced, before Aile shook her head and continued.

"The other four all seemed to defer to X, and I don't know who their Biomatches are, just that it's not me and that it's probably not you. H can be quite serious, too, but he's a little more prim and proper, and his armor ended up being green, with rondels, and with flight and lightning abilities. He was very useful," she smiled. "P was quiet, but not shy by any means. His armor ended up being purple and ninja-themed; he could shoot shurikens and was very agile when it came to mobility. Oh, and nightvision. L was very flirty and playful, and she was the only female of the bunch. She was blue, but a different shade of blue, and you could swim and breathe underwater with her. She also had ice abilities and could use a trident. F…" she looked a little embarrassed. "Pyromaniac with custom aiming capabilities is the best way to describe F. He's very… excitable. And fire-elemental. He was quite the combination."

"They sound like quite the characters," Vent noted. "So the two of us and Boss are Biomatches to X, C, and Z. What about the other four?"

"Like I said, no idea," Aile said. "None of them have had Biomatches before, so I don't have the faintest idea as to who those Biomatches could be. Until they somehow find them, I'm going to hold onto them since we all know each other."

The conversation on Biomatches made Vent remember something. "Oh yeah. Those two. Prometheus and Pandora. You told me that they're brother and sister and are Model W Biomatches, but can you tell me a bit more about them?"

"I really don't know anything," she told them. "I just know that… that they seemed to know more about Model W than even Serpent did, and some of their words suggested that they were manipulating Serpent. They kept talking about 'him', but never said who 'he' was, just that—" Realizing what she was about to say, she closed her mouth, but before Vent could ask, someone else did.

" _When will you realize you should stop keeping secrets like that?"_ a grumpy voice spoke up from Vent's bag. The brunet jumped as Model C floated out.

"C, you're awake?"

" _Y-Yes. Because you two keep talking while I was trying to nap."_ Model C made a yawning sound.

"Well, regardless, he's right," Vent said, crossing his arms. "Aile, seriously. You're being too secretive, and if I'm involved, I'm going to probably _stay_ involved."

"…Like I said before, all the Biometal users are related to the man that created Model W somehow," she finally said. "I don't know who it is. I have no idea who it could be. Just that those two do know who it is or at least have some idea, but for some reason are trying to lure people into this. I'm honestly just surprised they hadn't lured _you_ in yet…"

"Unless they're the ones that gave me C," Vent theorized.

Aile shook her head. "I doubt it. Sneakily hiding a Biometal in your bike during a Maverick attack and not being present? That doesn't sound like them at all, especially Prometheus. He's the sort that'll announce his presence, loud and clear, to the world. Pandora, she's very quiet in comparison, but wherever she is, her brother will be there, and I'm sure he wouldn't have stood for that. No, someone else had to have given you C. Someone that, for some reason, didn't want to let anyone see them. We had no other Biometals besides mine, so it couldn't have been us."

" _They placed C with you knowingly, I believe,"_ Model X spoke up. _"The odds of them randomly placing a Biometal in the bike of someone they had never met that not only had a sibling as a Biomatch, but turned out to be 100% compatible themselves, is extremely slim."_

Vent nearly threw his hands up into the air. "Well, this didn't help in the least." And so the mystery of exactly who had given him Model C then remained just that: a mystery.

They sat a few more moments in silence before a female voice rang out on the intercom in Aile's room. _"Aile, Vent, please report to the Command Center at once."_

Aile stood up and Vent followed her, making sure that they had the Biometals with them. "Why're we being called?" he asked her, confused.

She shrugged, appearing just as puzzled as he did. "I actually don't know. Maybe we're getting close to the lab? I've only been there a few times before so I'm not completely sure on the route."

" _I have a b-bad feeling about this,"_ Model C muttered as he and Model X followed their Biomatches out of the room.

The Command Deck hadn't changed since the last time Vent had seen it. The three navigators were keeping the ship enroute, and Prairie was sitting her chair. She turned around and stood up, approaching the two of them with her cat plush not too far behind them. "Aile, Vent, I'm glad that you came."

Vent opened his mouth to say something but his sister beat him to it. "Is something wrong, Prairie?"

"We've just received word from security that someone has broken into the facility. We don't know who they are, but they've left a trail indicating that they are going to the research labs."

"Aile, your Biometals," Vent said, eyes widening.

"Prairie, is there any way to get there in time?" Aile asked, looking over at Model X.

"The ship isn't there yet, but we are close enough that you can use the transerver to teleport into the facility," Prairie said. "Aile, find out who it is, and keep the Biometals from falling into their hands at all costs. Vent, I know that you're not officially a Guardian, but can you go with her?"

"Alright. Megamerge!" Aile said. The Guardians had seen her wandering about the ship in her Megamerged form so it would be no problem.

"Yeah, sure, I'll go," Vent said, reaching out to take Model C and Megamerge with him.

" _Are we going to p-play hero again?"_ Model C asked as the twins made their way towards the transerver.

Aile set the location on the transerver and waited for it to teleport them. "Maybe not, Model C, but we have to make sure that the Guardians and the Biometals there are safe."

" _F-Fine, good enough."_ The Biometal really wanted to help people, Vent noticed. Or was it just because it wanted to look good?

* * *

When they reached their destination, Aile paused and turned around to grip Vent by the arm. "Wait, Vent. You should unmerge."

" _What?!"_ It was Model C that had spoken.

"How come?" he frowned. "I can't do much if I'm not Megamerged."

Aile shook her head. "The Guardians know me. They know me when I'm wearing Model X or any of my Biometals. They don't know _you_ , Vent. If you run out there, dressed as Model C… some of them might mistake you for the threat and attack." She didn't need to state what a _bad_ thing that would be.

"Why not just tell them who I am?"

"Not enough time."

"And if someone _attacks_ me when I'm trying to look around?" he asked, despite listening to her and demerging.

"Then Megamerge and fight back," she shrugged, before turning and dashing off.

"Aile—" But she was gone before he could speak, and he groaned. "Ugh."

Despite the handicap that he had, Vent did his best to follow Aile in the direction that she had gone. It seemed really quiet here for a place that was being attacked, and the only real indication that anything was even wrong was the occasional broken piece of wall or ceiling, and rather nervous Guardians nearly jumping when he came around a corner.

In hindsight, perhaps Aile had been right. The Guardians had almost shot him once or twice as it was, meaning that if he'd been dressed as Model C, they really would have attacked him.

"Hey," He finally said, approaching the first Guardian to _not_ attack him or even jump on sight. She in fact didn't seem surprised to see him at all, oddly enough. "I'm Aile's brother, Vent. You know where the Research Lab was? She told me she was heading over there."

The Guardian, a magenta-haired female, shook her head. "Well, the quickest way is… was through here," she told him, gesturing towards where a broken part of the building blocked the way. "But there's another route, if you go through the room here, and then take a loop around to the other side, and then circle back. It's not that complicated, I think you can find it if you just follow the green doors."

Green doors. He'd better remember that. "Thanks a bunch, uh, what was your name…?"

"Roselle," she told him with a smile. "Roselle White."

"Thanks, Roselle! You should probably get to safety, I don't want something to fall on top of you." Just as he said that, the building shook, and he gripped the wall to keep himself from falling. Alright. With a wave to Roselle, he ran off in the direction that she had told him to go.

"… _Odd,"_ Model C murmured.

"What's wrong, Model C?" Vent asked as he made his way through.

" _That girl, I could have sworn… n-no, I must be c-crazy. Keep going Vent, I c-can sense Biometals o-other than Model X. They're s-still in the building."_

Right. Whatever it was about Roselle, it could wait.

* * *

Truth be told, she'd lied to Vent so that he wouldn't be able to keep up with her; Prairie could have easily told them what Vent looked like while Megamerged. But she was adamant in that she didn't want her brother involved in any of this, and whoever was stealing the Biometals probably wanted them for a reason. She was keeping him out of this as long as she possibly could.

When Aile entered the Research Lab, she feared the worst. And for a moment, she did: the Research Lab was in ruins, and while there weren't any bodies, there were five shattered glass containers.

"No…!" she breathed, stepping forward and examining the glass. Models Z, H, L, F, and P. They weren't in the room. "X, can you sense them?" she asked, hoping against hope that the Biometals had somehow hidden themselves, no matter how slim the chance was.

"…" Model X was quiet for a moment before speaking. _"They're still in the building – somewhere outside the far exit. If we hurry, we might be able to catch the thief."_

"Heeey, if it isn't the Blue Mega Man~."

Aile whirled, firing off a Buster shot as she normally did upon hearing that voice. The shot was blocked with a scythe, and she glared at the purple-armored, blue-haired Reploid that was standing there. "Prometheus," she growled. "What're you doing here?"

Prometheus frowned. "What, no hello, no 'how are you doing, Prometheus', nothing? I thought you were better than that!"

"Cut to the chase, Prometheus," Aile said, glaring at him. "What did you do to my Biometals?"

"That's just it, isn't it?" Prometheus said, grinning at her. "They're not exactly _yours_ , are they?"

She froze. "What?" She knew that, of course, but what did that have to do with what Prometheus was saying?

He hopped on top of a lab table, one foot resting against the wall from where he was standing. "Exactly, dear Aile. They're not _yours_. It was a lot of fun seeing you use your capabilities of fusing with other Biometals, but the longer those Biometals stay away from their true owners, the more of a wrench is thrown in my plans."

"And what plans would those be?" Aile asked, slowly inching towards the door. While she would love to beat his face in for everything that had happened, retrieving her Biometals was way more important than that.

"Mega Men. We exist. We fight." His expression darkened. "This is what will happen unless someone breaks the system. The Guardian leader knew what she was doing when she made the six Biometals that you had in your possession. She wanted to break the cycle. And we'll do _just_ that."

He swung his scythe, and Aile was just barely able to duck it. "Uh uh uh, Aile, you're not going anywhere right now." When she turned around, she noticed that his true target had _not_ been her, but in fact the ceiling above the far exit. "You're a Mega Man. I'm a Mega Man. We're _supposed_ to fight when we meet!"

"What is _wrong_ with you?!" Prometheus was, as normal, making absolutely no sense whatsoever.

"Oh, Aile. The answer to that is _everything_." He laughed, and leapt off the table, dashing towards her. "En garde!"

* * *

Vent paused again as he heard a distant rumble from his right, but the wall didn't collapse. If Roselle's directions were right, then the Research Lab was somewhere to his right, and there was likely something going on there. "Dammit! Aile, why did you do this to me…?"

" _V-Vent!"_ Model C yelled, suddenly stiffening as Vent ran through another door.

"Yeah?"

" _Ignore the green door and the Research Lab. There's f-five Biometals right through those red doors there,"_ the Biometal hissed. _"Model X – and your sister – is in the R-Research Lab. It's a trick. Someone distracted the Guardians, and probably Aile, while the other person stole the Biometals."_

"Lucky for us that you can sense them, huh?" Vent murmured quietly, carefully stepping towards the door, and opening it and darting inside.

" _Of course! I won't let them m-make a fool out of us!"_

He was not expecting the person he saw – a green-haired female, with white and light blue armor, holding a staff of some kind. There was a sealed container in her hands, and the objects in that container were clearly Biometals. "Hey, let go of those!"

The woman turned around, slowly stepping away. Her face was eerily blank, though it shifted into some confusion. "…Aile…? No… you're not the Blue Mega Man…" She tucked the container underneath one arm and held her staff out with the other. "Do not interfere… this goes beyond your understanding. This is your… only warning."

Vent reached into his pocket, where Model C was, and calculated his chances. Model C had a Buster. If he could get one shot off at the container, then it would shatter and the Biometals would be free, and this woman would have a rough time gathering all of them with one hand, giving him more time to grab them and more time for Aile to get here after defeating whoever it was in there.

"Megamerge!" he shouted before immediately firing at her.

She gasped and swung her staff, a barrier briefly appearing to protect herself – and the container – and shifted her position, now on guard as Vent was _clearly_ a threat and not just another unarmed human. "…Not the Blue Mega Man… not one of the known Mega Man… who are you?"

"Vent," he growled. "I'm not about to let you steal my sister's Biometals."

"Sister's?" Her expression shifted again, showing confusion before going blank. Electricity glowed at the tip of her staff. "So you are Aile's brother… So be it… Yellow Mega Man."

" _I prefer 'Hero Mega Man'."_

"Not now, C," Vent hissed, his green eyes still focused on the woman. "Who are you, anyways?"

"I suppose… it is polite since you told me yours," she conceded. "I am Pandora. And I will… take these Biometals."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Roselle:** If you watch my DeviantART, then you know who Roselle is. Her cameo this early in the series was an accident, but something that won't mess anything up. No, she's not going to be involved with Vent, relax.
> 
>  **Prometheus and Pandora:** Of course they would appear, it's a ZX fic. It's not ZX without those two nutcases.
> 
>  **Biometal Theft:** Hey, it had to happen sometime.


	6. The Purloined Biometals

Pandora's colors shifted to yellow just before she fired three streams of electricity twice as long as Vent was tall, before she spun her staff and teleported, reappearing near the top of the room

Vent jumped to avoid the streams, but ended up being hit by the third one. "Ow!" he hissed, firing a Buster shot at her. What kind of Reploid was she, to be able to _attack_ like that? The only Biometals were Aile's, and while she was carrying them, it didn't look like she had Megamerged with any of them, so how –

" _No. Two biomatches other than Serpent had Model W Biometals."_

" _Those two siblings that you mentioned before?"_

" _Yes, them, Prometheus and Pandora. Don't ask me to explain them because I really… don't know what makes the two of them tick."_

…Oh no.

His eyes widened briefly as he realized _who_ she was, but he didn't get too much time to ponder as her colors shifted to a pastel blue and she created a giant ice snowman, which swung towards him.

" _Dash!"_ Model C hissed, and Vent, still a little clumsy and not used to using Model C's capabilities, obeyed, barely managing to outspeed the snowman until it broke apart from banging around the room too many times.

He was at a serious disadvantage, he realized, as he took another hit from an electrical-based attack. Pandora was obviously a seasoned veteran fighter, and staying in the air. He had no way to get into the air as far as he knew, and all he could do to hit her was fire from where he was on the ground and hope that she wasn't able to realize it in time and dodge.

Meanwhile, her attacks were relentless; what was he to do?

" _She's g-got two elements,"_ Model C whispered as they observed her. _"Ice and electricity. That s-staff of hers allows her to teleport, and she can f-fly with some sort of advanced h-hover mechanism. H-Her helmet can break apart to f-fire on their own, too, both ice and e-electricity."_

"That's nice, C, but that doesn't exactly _help_ me defeat her at the moment," Vent said, firing a charged shot at her, nearly growling in frustration as she teleported out of the way _again_.

" _Amateur_ ," Model C sighed, but explained as Vent dashed to avoid her helmet's ice shards. _"What you need to do, Vent, is anticipate where s-she is going to teleport to, and fire there as she does so."_

"How am I going to predict that?" He muttered quietly, so that Pandora didn't hear him. "Besides, she's probably going to murder me."

" _She has a handicap – she can only attack with one h-hand at the moment, and that's throwing her balance off. You d-don't need to defeat her – you just n-need to get the Biometals back so that she can't steal them. B-Besides, from the looks of things, she doesn't seem interested in k-killing you."_

"Huh?"

True to Model C's words, Pandora had an attack charged on her staff, but had appeared to have paused when it seemed Vent had gotten distracted with talking to Model C. "Don't you want me dead?"

She shook her head. "You're an unknown, Yellow Mega Man."

" _Hero Mega Man! Not Y-Yellow!"_

"Hero – my apologies, Hero Mega Man," she said, dipping her head. "…Which model are you?"

"Model C," Vent said, slowly.

"Mega Man Model C," Pandora murmured, and then nodded, aiming her staff and firing four more streams of electricity, which surrounded her before shooting towards Vent. "Show me… what you can do."

" _Okay, Vent_ ," Model C said, watching as Vent continued his strategies from before – dodging as best as he could while Pandora attacked, and firing back whenever he got the chance. Some of the shots, Model C noted with some pride, were coming close to where Pandora was teleporting to. _"S-Switch your element."_

"To what?" He asked, dashing around the ice snowman as it came for him.

" _Ice, obviously."_

"Why that one?" he asked, careful to keep his questions ambiguous so that Pandora didn't hear what the two of them were planning.

" _A-Amateur,"_ Model C repeated. _"The element t-triangle consists of Fire, Ice, and Electricity. F-Fire is weak to Electricity, Ice is w-weak to Fire, and Electricity is weak to Ice. P-Pandora is able to use Electricity and Ice, so switching to Fire or Electricity m-means that you would be s-severely hurt if you were hit. But with Ice, if s-she uses Electricity, y-you can hit her hard. Just c-concentrate and think of ice."_

Vent tried, and the off-white parts of his armor shifted into what appeared to be a pale blue color. "How _cool_." He'd used Model C's elemental powers, of course, but he was unable to help the pun.

" _Ugh,"_ Model C groaned as Pandora 's helmet separated into pieces and fired shards of ice at Vent.

One of the shards struck Vent, making him grunt, but it didn't hurt as much as it had when he hadn't shifted into the ice element. Elemental resistance, perhaps? He couldn't tell, and Model C wasn't mentioning it, so instead of focusing too much, he charged his Buster and fired at where he predicted that Pandora would appear again.

Instead of a normal Buster shot, a large block of ice burst forth, nearly knocking Vent over due to him not expecting it. Pandora gasped, and moved her staff to block, but it didn't do it any good. As soon as it struck the staff, the ice split into multiple pieces, moving past the defense of the staff and striking her armor – and the container that she was holding, cracking it.

Pandora paused for a moment, staring down at the container and then at Vent. This was too risky to continue like this. She could end up losing the Biometals.

Vent's expression brightened a little when he saw the container crack; this could work out to his advantage if he kept on fighting. Breaking the container would mean that Pandora would worry more about the Biometals that were in there, and would make some potentially careless mistakes that he could take advantage of.

However, before either of them could start up their fight again, they heard a scream and then an explosion.

* * *

It was only because Aile had fought Prometheus several times before that she was able to jump on the wall to leap over him before he cut her down with that scythe, charging up her busters and storing the shots until she had an opening. Once he reappeared above her, she fired at him, making him grunt.

"Haha, still looks like you have it!" Prometheus grinned, apparently not at all displeased that she had managed to hit him. He jumped into the air, his armor shifting into a red color, and four giant flames spread out across the room before firing smaller flames at Aile.

"Enough, Prometheus!" Aile yelled, waiting until he was in range before firing her second Buster at him. He blocked it with his scythe, before dashing towards her again. "I didn't come here to have a fight with you – I just came here to get my Biometals!"

"And I've already told you!" the Model W Mega Man replied, swinging his scythe to send a wave of energy towards her before disappearing and reappearing from above her, flames raining down with him. "Those aren't your tools!"

"They're my _friends_!" she screamed as she dashed away from the flames. "I'm not letting you take them away from me!"

"I get it," Prometheus grinned, righting himself once he had landed. "You're _scared_."

"Wh-What?!"

"You're still scared, aren't you? After what happened to the Model Z Mega Man?" he taunted.

Oh, that was _not_ the right thing to say, Prometheus. "Shut up!" Aile yelled, spraying some normal Buster shots at him. However, he easily anticipated them coming, and dashed to the side to avoid them. "Don't talk about Giro like that!"

"Who are you afraid of losing this time?" he mused, shooting some more flames at her. "The Biometals? You'd have run away from here and tried to get them if that was really what you were afraid of losing, Aile! The Guardians? You always fight for them. But you and I both know that they're far away from this fight by now! So who is it that you're afraid to lose now?!"

She was silent for a moment, focusing on charging her Busters up again. Prometheus was right, she was afraid of losing the Biometals and the Guardians, but the one she _really_ feared for was Vent. Prometheus and his sister Pandora had been there when Giro had died, and were partly responsible for it. Giro had been a Mega Man, so they had been more interested in him than in any of the other people that had been around. As a result, they would be interested in Vent if they found out about him. And after losing her mother, Merle, as a child, and then her adoptive father, Girouette, two years ago she wasn't sure that she could handle it if she lost Vent too.

Aile knew she had to get out of this room and find her Biometals quickly. If Prometheus didn't have them, that meant someone else did. And when Prometheus was around, it was extremely likely that Pandora was around, too, and that meant that not only did she have the Biometals, that meant Vent had a chance of running into her.

Damn it, she should have had him stay onboard the airship, but Prairie had already asked him to go with her, and it would look strange if she had protested it.

 _Okay,_ Aile thought. Model X's main power was his ability to Double Megamerge with other Biometals that she wasn't compatible with, and to use abilities that were normally in that other Biometal. It probably wasn't as good as when those Biometals were with their true Chosen One (whoever they were), but it was still powerful regardless.

Of course Model X by himself still had his advantages over Double Megamerging; he had the most powerful ranged weapons out of all of them, being able to charge the Buster to insane levels and store the charged shots until firing, and he had no elemental weakness, so Prometheus wouldn't be able to slaughter her with that crazy fire attack from his hair.

Aile began charging her Busters again, but didn't shoot them, instead storing both shots for the time period. This was risky, but it was the quickest and easiest way to do what she needed to. Prometheus raised his eyebrows as all she did was dodge him.

"What're you doing? Are you _already_ willing to stop fighting?"

 _Not yet_ , she thought, waiting, until… there!

She formed both Busters, aimed at Prometheus, and simultaneously fired both charged shots at him.

Unfortunately, even Model X's dual Busters weren't designed to be fired at the exact same time, so while she did get the result that she wanted – a single, giant charged shot instead of two smaller charged shots – the pain that ripped through her arms was intense and made her scream, both Busters automatically cancelling out from overheating.

Prometheus's eyes had widened, and not having enough time to teleport through the room, put his scythe up to block the giant shot. Though the scythe did prevent it from directly smashing into him, the rest of the shot went around the sides and he was sure that his armor and hair had gotten singed from the sheer proximity of all that energy.

The force of it was enough to push him down onto one knee, using his scythe for support, but he was still _alive_ at least. Panting, he looked over at Aile, who had collapsed down to her knees as well, the jumpsuit and armor on her arms looking burned. "…Heh… hehe…" he managed to laugh. "That would have _killed_ me if I hadn't blocked it!"

"My goal," Aile said, wincing in pain as she stood up and walked towards him, "wasn't to kill you." She waited until she was right in front of Prometheus, before dashing around him and through the door – while Prometheus had blocked it earlier, the double charged shot had torn apart the piece of the ceiling blocking it.

Prometheus stared, taking a few more seconds to recover before dashing after her. How clever of Aile – she'd fired the most powerful shot that she could have to immediately open her path up, because she knew once he realized what she was doing, he would have stopped her and wasted more time.

"Hah! It's probably too late already!"

* * *

The scream had been distinctly feminine and Vent whirled around in the direction it had come from, temporarily forgetting about Pandora. "Aile!"

Even Pandora had stopped again, looking in the same direction that Vent had. She loved her brother, but Prometheus could go over the top when it came to doing things; their goal hadn't been to kill the Model X Mega Man (this time around, at least), but to retrieve the Biometals.

Vent was torn for a moment, whether to run to Aile's aide or to do his best to keep the Biometals out of his hands.

Model C seemed to pick up on this train of thought. _"I-Idiot! Aile didn't w-want those Biometals to f-fall into anyone else's hands! E-Especially with these two! She's distracted, so shoot the container!"_

"But… Aile—"

Vent wasn't able to get another word out as Model C gave an aggravated sigh; his arm moved on its own, and a low-level shot was fired at the container that Pandora was holding. She wasn't able to dodge it in time, and the top of it shattered, and he was vaguely able to see one metallic object. "Model C!" he shouted, realizing the Biometal had made the choice for him.

He heard a gasp from behind him, and he didn't have to turn around to realize that it was his sister.

She ran up to stand beside him. He noticed for the first time that her arms seemed a little scorched. "What happened to you?!"

"Later," she said, her eyes locked on Pandora. She aimed her arm at them, but it gave an audible click and did not form a Buster. "But I just did something very stupid and I think my Busters are broken. And Prometheus is probably right behind me."

A crash echoed in the direction that she had come from, and Vent turned so that his back was to his sister's.

Prometheus dashed in, skidding to a halt when he noticed Vent with Aile, his eyebrows went up. "The hell?" When Aile didn't explain, he teleported with his scythe and reappeared beside Pandora. "Well, looks like things are getting a little interesting! Suddenly your actions from before make a lot more sense, Aile!"

"Shut up," Aile grumbled again at him. She wondered if she'd made the right decision; she was here with Vent and could keep an eye on him, but she'd lured Prometheus to him.

"Hmph, if you won't talk, maybe your friend will," Prometheus said, rolling his eyes. "Hey, kid. Who're you?"

"I– huh?" Vent stared at him, caught off-guard.

"Don't tell him anything," Aile hissed.

"I, uh, already told Pandora before we started fighting," he said, sheepish. His sister groaned.

"Pandora tells me everything, kid, you might as well speak before I ask her," Prometheus said, putting his scythe in a less offensive position. Pandora sat back down on her staff, broken container still in her hands.

He didn't demerge, but he did speak. "…I'm Vent. I'm Aile's twin brother. And my Biometal is Model C."

"Interesting," Prometheus mused. Vent did catch both of their expressions shift a little. "So who made yours? Same person that made these?"

"Don't have the faintest clue," Vent replied, debating whether to fire at them again. "But you're not stealing him like you're trying to do with the others."

"Hey, hey," Prometheus laughed. "Come on… Vent was it? We need to let the Game continue, and we can't do that if all the Biometals are in your sister's hands. She can keep one. You can keep one. One Biometal per Biomatch, those are the rules." He gestured to the container that Pandora was holding. "The more Mega Men there are, the more Model W can awaken."

"I still don't know what game you two are referring to," Aile grumbled. "But the Model W core is _destroyed_ , unless you two forgot. There won't _be_ an awakening."

Pandora's expression went blank, and Prometheus stared at Aile incredulously before he began cackling. "Wow! No one told you _anything_ , did they?!"

"… _I have a bad feeling about this,"_ Model X quietly said.

"Did you _really_ think that there was only _one_ Model W core?" Prometheus asked, grinning.

A chill went through Aile at that. "What… what do you mean?"

"There's Model Ws scattered all throughout the world. I know you're the Chosen One for Model X… but Model X and his little friends didn't always exist. The _original_ Chosen Ones… they were supposed to merge with a Model W, like Serpent did. 'Course, the Guardian commander decided to take things into her own hands and make these." He pointed to the container again. "And someone, probably her, made the one he's wearing." This time, he pointed to Vent.

"So, sorry Aile, Vent, but we need these five." Prometheus shrugged, and then reached in and plucked one of the Biometals out. "Although…"

"Prometheus… are you sure…?" Pandora asked, appearing to understand her brother's intentions.

"Yeah, yeah, can't do much harm, the Biomatch is dead anyways and it's the best way to demonstrate what the Model X Mega Man is capable of. Hey, Aile, catch!"

That was all the warning got before Prometheus flung the Biometal at her. With a yelp of surprise, Aile caught it. "Model Z?" The black and red Biometal's eyes were dimmed, suggesting that he was either asleep or unconscious.

"And now, we bid you adieu." Prometheus gave a mock bow. "Until next time, Mega Man Model C, Mega Man Model X."

"Hey, wait!" Vent fired his Buster again, but the two teleported out before the shot could connect. "Aile… I'm sorry."

Aile shook her head, a little numb. "Don't be. I'm surprised you held her off this long… they bested Giro, and they've almost bested me before." She glanced down at the asleep Biometal in her hand. "I'm surprised he even gave Model Z back to me. I just wonder what's going to happen to the others."

"Hey," Vent said, phasing his Buster back to his hand and placing it on her shoulders. "We'll find them. Even if I have to drag Prometheus back here by his hair."

His sister managed a weak smile at that. "What a week. You become a Mega Man, those two show up, my Bio- _friends_ get stolen, and I find out there's more Model Ws."

" _And_ the Model Ws," Vent said, frowning. "We'll get rid of those Model Ws like you did that first one."

" _Y-Yeah! Th-They're causing the Maverick outbreaks, right? We f-follow the Mavericks, we find M-Model Ws!"_ Model C spoke up. Vent had a feeling that the Biometal would be making a nasty expression if he could. _"And d-destroy them."_

Since Prometheus and Pandora were gone, and there appeared to be no more threats, Vent demerged from Model C, leaving the Biometal hovering in the air.

Aile demerged as well, and then winced when she saw that her bodysuit was charred. "Muguet's going to kill me. She hates it when we come back banged up."

"She'll have to deal," Vent said, stubbornly. "Come on. Let's go get that looked at before something else happens."

"Before that – we have to hand Model X and Model Z over to Fleuve. I have no idea why Z is unconscious and I don't know if that injured X…" She looked over at the blue Biometal. Its eyes were still glowing, but it looked a little charred as well.

" _I-I think getting me looked over would be a good idea,"_ Model X said reluctantly, sounding woozy. _"But please do get Model Z looked over."_

* * *

Pandora had transferred the Biometals to a new container. They'd gotten those four Biometals after Aile had managed to take them from Serpent. It _would_ have been five, but Prometheus had thought it better if Aile had kept Model Z. Why, she wasn't sure, but she trusted her brother's decisions. For all of Prometheus's bluster, he was smart.

"Prometheus… are we going to mention this to _him_?" Pandora asked her brother quietly.

"What, that Mega Man Model C is a thing? Nah. It'll be fun to keep the old bastard on his toes. And the more players there are in this little game, the more likely he'll come out," Prometheus grinned. "Let's keep an eye on him for now. If he's half as good as Aile became, then he'll be a serious contender."

She nodded, glancing back down at their new Biometals. "…Who are we going to give these to…?"

"Old bastard was going to send us some possibilities any day now," Prometheus shrugged. "Dunno how many 'Chosen Ones' he made other than Serpent, Aile, Vent, and… whatever the Red Mega Man was named. Zero, or Giro, or something like that. Serpent was a pretty big failure. I almost feel sorry for the four bastards _he_ picks to give these to."

Almost. Prometheus had lost almost all compassion but for Pandora ages ago, and his sister knew that.

"And while we are at it…" Pandora suggested quietly, "we need to see if there are more…"

More Biometals. Model Ws were a given. There were plenty of them out there, they just had to round them up and put them all in the location _he_ had designated. There were the six that Aile had possessed for quite some time.

And there was Vent's. It wouldn't be unusual to assume that there would be _more_.

Stupid Biomatches. He was envious of them, and he knew Pandora was, too. They were able to demerge whenever they felt like it and weren't _required_ to play by _his_ rules, though it was working out better for Prometheus and Pandora when they _did_.

Anyways, they had work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Double X-Buster:** Not possible in the ZX games, but you are able to fire two charged shots one after another in ZX and with several of X's Armors. The ones in X3 even combine into a giant shot. And Super Adventure Rockman showed that Mega Man was capable of shooting both busters at the same time, so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that X could, too. He is, after all, supposed to be a better version of Mega Man.


	7. The Hunt is On

The first thing that Vent had done was take Aile to the airship so that she could get looked over by Muguet despite her protests that the Biometals needed to be looked over first. Aile had looked sheepishly at the short, brown-haired doctor, who had gasped and had immediately forced her to demerge and lie down on a bed.

"Aile! How many times do I have to tell you not to end up in this condition! Rose, get me the scanner, stat!" Muguet ordered a purple-haired nurse, who immediately ran to do just that.

Model X woozily floated over to Vent, nearly falling out of the air. Vent caught him, and then fished Model Z out of his sister's pocket. "I'll go hand X and Z over to Fleuve, alright?"

"Fine," Aile sighed, but lay perfectly still as Muguet and Rose checked her over, other than turning her head to watch Vent go.

"…" Model C would have been grimacing were he capable of it, and Vent waited until he was no longer in the Medical Bay before he glanced down at the Biometal.

"What's the matter, C?"

"… _I don't like M-Model Z,"_  the Biometal flatly stated. _"For s-some reason."_

"You haven't even met him!" Vent protested; the red, black, and white Biometal was still unconscious, and he was starting to wonder if he would ever wake up.

" _Don't push it, Vent,"_  Model X spoke up, still sounding dizzy.  _"There's a history behind them, and it wasn't completely pleasant."_

" _Wh-What do you mean?"_  Model C asked, suddenly curious; he was aware enough to know that there was some bad blood between him and Model Z, but didn't know enough as to  _what_  it was.

" _I-I really don't feel good…"_  the blue Biometal mumbled in return, his eyes dimming.

" _How c-convenient,"_  Model C muttered, but he stayed silent for the rest of the journey to Fleuve's lab.

"Hey, Fleuve?" Vent asked, nearly making the scientist jump from his computer. "Can you check X, Z, and C over?"

For good measure, Model X floated into the air, wobbling, and almost fell. This time, it was Fleuve that snatched him out of the air.

"What have you two been  _doing_  to these Biometals?" Fleuve huffed, reaching out to take Models C and Z as well. The scientist tinkered with the Biometals and his computer for several moments before he came to the conclusion as to what the issue was. "Model X is badly damaged, and Model Z is completely drained of energy! Model C is fine. Thank Light for small mercies," Fleuve muttered quietly. "And where are the other four?"

"Erm, well…" Vent wasn't quite sure what to say to that; Fleuve really seemed a little neurotic when it came to the Biometals. "Look, can I take C, and then come back and pick up X and Z later?"

"Fine, fine," Fleuve huffed again. "But I'm taking them if you and Aile make them end up in this condition again!"

Vent's eye twitched; Model Z's condition wasn't even  _their_  fault, and he was sure that Model X didn't blame them for his condition, either. But Model X made a sound that suggested he wanted to roll his eyes, and Vent realized that Fleuve probably threatened Aile like this all the time.

" _Vent, we will be fine here. Please go make sure that Aile is okay. I purposely shouldered the majority of the damage, but I couldn't stop it from reaching her completely."_

He nodded, glancing over at the three Biometals as Fleuve all but shoved them into the scanner. Shaking his head, he left the room.

* * *

Given that the damage to Aile's arms had been mostly absorbed by Model X, with some Subtanks and some medicinal patches, her arms were good as new and she was able to leave the Medical Bay, much to Muguet's reluctance – but at this moment, they needed all the people capable of working to be doing just that.

With Prometheus and Pandora gone, there wasn't much left to do in the Guardian land base other than help with the cleanup. With the help of the Guardian that he had met earlier, Roselle, and several others, Vent and Aile checked to ensure that nothing else was missing.

"The security systems are down," Roselle noted as she looked over some of the data, "but other than the four Biometals, nothing else is missing. Some people are hurt, but no one was killed."

Vent gave a deep sigh. "So it  _was_  them that they were after."

"A little odd that they didn't harm anyone else," Aile said, frowning. "They don't usually worry about that…" Did they want them all alive for some reason? The way their expressions had shifted when they'd heard Vent and Aile's names together…

"Huh… they looked kinda a familiar, now that I think about it," Vent mused out loud.

Aile blinked at him, looking alarmed. "…What?"

Oh, he hadn't meant to say that. "Just… I could've sworn that I've met them before, but I can't for the life of me remember when and where." He shook his head. "Sorry, I must be making things up. Anyways, so nothing else is gone or damaged? Just the four Biometals?"

"Nothing," Roselle confirmed again. "…I'll report this to the Commander, and we'll keep looking for them. I wish you both the best of luck."

"Thanks, Roselle," Aile said with a sigh. "…Vent, let's go back. Maybe Fleuve has fixed X and Z by now."

* * *

They'd gone back to Fleuve's laboratory, where Fleuve had repeated his rant about permanently keeping the Biometals if they ended up in this kind of condition again the next time that he got his hands on them. Aile had just smiled and nodded before taking Model X and Z back.

"Are you both alright?" she asked them, checking them over. It looked like both of them had been polished.

" _We're fine, Aile,"_  Model X said gently. He no longer sounded dizzy.  _"I simply took some damage, but it wasn't anything major. Z was just drained of energy and he is feeling much better now."_

" _Are you?"_  a deeper voice came, and Vent realized that this was the first time that he had Model Z speak.

Aile nodded, but it was clear that she was deep in thought. While Model C had curled up in Vent's pocket to take a nap during this as they seemed to be out of imminent danger, Aile was holding Model X and Model Z as close as she possibly could.

" _Aile,"_  Model X whispered as she squeezed them,  _"you're going to crush us."_

They all knew that there was no way that she could, but it was probably uncomfortable for the two Biometals and she loosened her grip. "Sorry, just… I'm sorry, X. I know that they were your friends…"

" _Don't feel sorry for yourself. I've told you this before,"_  Model Z said before X could correct her on that statement.  _"You did what you could, and I'm impressed that you were able to keep us in your possession as long as you were able to. We will find them, and retrieve them so that we can take them to their true Chosen Ones."_

A smile flickered across Aile's face. "You're right… thanks, Z."

* * *

Well, well. Prometheus, as he had mentioned before, almost  _did_  feel sorry for the poor bastards that were going to be given these four Biometals; they were pawns. All of them were. He took a moment to check the list over.

The first was a former Ruin Hunter and a mercenary for hire, a Reploid named Siarnaq. While he had been Chosen a  _long_  time ago, the hatred and coldness that had been caused from being betrayed by those that had thought friends would work in their favor.

The second was the son of a city governor, a human named Aeolus, who, like typical politicians, didn't care too much about the people that they were supposed to be looking over. This would work in their favor, as well, as Aeolus would only want the  _best_  to survive.

The third was a human formerly in the military, named Atlas. Like many people, she believed that only the  _strong_  should survive, and that war was the key to doing it. She'd be a good player, even if he doubted that she would make it to the end. No one was supposed to.

The last had somewhat puzzled Prometheus – a young Reploid boy named Thetis. He seemed like an environmentalist that wanted the ocean and all life in it to survive, though maybe they could nurture that into a streak of wanting humanity dead so that it could.

"Tsk," Prometheus muttered, looking over at Pandora. She was starting to look a little tired, he noticed, and he doubted it was because of the fight. Ten to one it was because of their little  _problem_ ; he was feeling rather fatigued himself. "Holding up alright?"

Pandora nodded. "He said he'll… give us back the Biometals soon… we just have to manage until then…"

"It had better be pretty damn soon, we're cutting it too close," Prometheus grumbled as he sat down on a crate. He knew why  _he_  had wanted the Biometals, of course; they couldn't manipulate these four new Mega Men if the Biometals protested, so that little aspect had to be taken care of, to make them as silent as Model W was.

Prometheus wasn't sure whether he wanted to hear Model W yakking, anyways. He'd been merged with it for two centuries, and it seriously gave him the creeps. It felt like old snakeskin that he desperately needed to get off, but  _couldn't_.

Pandora hesitated for a moment, before she sat down beside him, silent again. She was normally silent, but Prometheus was able to tell when something was on her mind. "What is it, Sis?"

"Those two… were  _there_ ," she finally said. She hadn't recognized Aile the first few times that she had seen her, just that the girl had been the Chosen One for Model X, and that Girouette had been particularly fond of her from his behavior in Area D's highway – like a father to a daughter. "Cinq Ville, Area H. Vent and Aile. The little twins that survived."

 _Now_  Prometheus recognized the names, and despite his exhaustion, he sat up a little straighter. "Huh. Fancy that. Knew those two kids were something special." He smirked. "Makes you almost regret attacking Aile all those times, eh?"

He'd been half-tempted to kidnap those two four-year-olds; a pair of lost children, fleeing Mavericks, in a place filled with nothing but death? They'd reminded him of himself and Pandora, and small children were far easier to manipulate how people wanted them than older people. Plus, if they'd taught them how to fix them, then maybe they wouldn't have had to rely on  _him_.

But they had both come to the same conclusion. It would have been  _impossible_  to hide a pair of four-year-olds. They had been young and would've needed constant guardianship, and what if they'd both needed to be worked on at the same time? The kids would've been caught and probably killed or bent to his whims.

Sure, he'd almost killed Aile a few times. But they were better off this way; right now, Aile had destroyed a Model W, and he'd hinted to her that there were others out there. Hopefully, she would go after them. And even though the Red Mega Man, Girouette, was dead, maybe Vent would help her out, because that boy was going to get involved, whether he wanted to or not, and it wasn't even Prometheus's fault this time around.

"…Do you think… they will be fine?" Pandora finally asked; she'd come to the same conclusion that he had.

"Eh, they'll be fine. X and Z were legends, and while I dunno about Model C, pretty sure that as long as he sticks around Aile he'll be fine," Prometheus shrugged again. "Speaking of Model C, you think he's possibly  _her_  creation?"

"It is… very likely," Pandora said, after a moment of thought. "Prometheus… do they have enough… information to find Model Ws?"

Oh. Right. Knowing that some were out there might not be a large enough hint; sure, they knew what to look for, but the Model W Core that Serpent had gotten his hands on had been hiding right under everyone's noses.

"Can't be helped, we may have to toss them some hints," Prometheus chuckled.

* * *

"That's very disturbing," Prairie said as she listened to the report that Aile had given her once the twins of them had arrived on the Main Deck. "So that means there are more Model Ws out there instead of just the one that Aile had destroyed."

"To make matters worse," Aile said, grimacing, "Serpent hadn't been joking around."

"About what?" Vent asked, glancing at his sister.

"Serpent told me that all Chosen Ones have the potential to merge with Model W, and Prometheus said the same thing. I'm not sure whether Serpent was just repeating what Prometheus had told  _him_ , but if they're right and all Chosen Ones were originally created to merge with Model W… that means there could be any number of them out there," Aile explained.

"Model Ws or Chosen Ones?" Prairie asked her, masking any anxiety in her tone that Vent thought that she would have.

"Both, probably. How many of us are  _out_  there?" Aile asked. "How many of us  _have_  been out there? I suspect there were a lot more of us than just me, Vent, Giro, Serpent, Pandora, and Prometheus. Those two sounded like they've been doing this for awhile, and I doubt that the four of us are the  _first_  ones that they've found."

"Technically, three of you, since they didn't know about me until today," Vent pointed out. "I'd be surprised if there weren't more Mega Men out there… even Mega Men that didn't even  _know_  that they were Mega Men. Even some of the people coming to Giro Express or in the Guardians could possibly be Mega Men, and could not know it, if no one ever tested them."

Prarie was silent for a moment. "In either case, we need to find the other Model Ws out there and destroy them before anyone else can use them. Vent, I know that you aren't a member of the Guardians, but could we still count on you to help us out?"

Vent thought for a moment; on one hand, Giro Express wouldn't run itself, though he had left it in Sho's hands for the time being. On the other hand, he would finally be able to somewhat keep an eye on Aile, and maybe he would finally keep her from running off and doing something stupid. "Yeah, why not? I'm pretty sure I'm involved in this whether I want to be or not."

As if that much hadn't been obvious the instant that he had been given Model C.

His sister smiled at him, despite the worry that shone in her green eyes, and he smiled back at her as Prairie gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Vent," the Guardian Commander told him. "For now, we should start searching for the Model Ws."

* * *

"Vent!" Sho grinned as he saw who had called him, the blond-haired Reploid waving enthusiastically. Vent had forgotten how cheerful his best friend was. "At least you're not pulling an Aile this time."

"Hello to you too, Sho," Vent laughed. "Anyways, just calling to see how Giro Express is doing while I'm gone." Hopefully, nothing huge had come up that Sho couldn't handle.

"Pretty well so far, I think," Sho said, glancing behind him for a moment. "Not a lot of customers have dropped by, so me and the other employees have been able to handle it. What about you? You just up and ran off after leaving the reins to me for the time being."

"Doing okay." Vent pursed his lips, pondering just how much to tell his friend. "I… might have gotten involved in something huge like Aile did, so I'm not exactly sure when I can come back."

"How bad?" Sho asked, looking more serious than he had before. "It's going to have to be pretty bad if you're being this cryptic, Vent."

Darn, his friend was able to read him like a book. He didn't want to lie to him, of course, but if he didn't tell him enough, then Sho was probably going to poke more at him. "I told you that Boss died, yeah? Well, it seems like he was involved in something pretty big… something that we're going to have to investigate further."

"We?"

"Aile and I," Vent supplied.

"Ah, right! You managed to make contact with her, didn't you?" Sho sounded cheerful, if but a little anxious. "Anyways, keep me posted. What you're doing is why all those Maverick attacks were happening, weren't they?"

"Yeah, that is why," Vent confirmed, and then almost froze as another thought occurred to him. Sho was a survivor of Maverick attack and while Giro himself hadn't adopted him as he still had family alive, he had taken him on as an employee… in fact,  _all_  of the employees that Giro had taken on had been Maverick attack survivors. Not to mention, Giro had been a Maverick attack survivor himself.

Aile had mentioned something about how Maverick attack survivors tended to be Chosen Ones. Like them. Like Giro. Like Serpent. Giro, he, and Aile had been Chosen Ones. Any one of the employees at Giro Express could be Chosen Ones, and that included Sho. He wasn't sure what he would do if it turned out that Sho  _was_  and ended up getting a Biometal. No, he needed to be careful.

"Hey, Sho?" he said.

"Yeah?"

"…Be really careful, okay? If anything weird or suspicious happens, can you call me or Aile?" Vent asked him. It was  _important_  that if someone like Pandora or Prometheus – or anyone, for that matter – approached him, that he let them know.

"Sure thing," Sho said, blinking in confusion. "…This has something to do with what you two are investigating, isn't it?"

"It does," Vent confirmed. Given how intelligent his childhood friend was, he wasn't surprised that Sho had managed to figure it out. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you much more than that."

Sho sighed, and shook his head. "Whatever, that's okay. I'll be in touch."

Vent managed a small smile, and hung up after the two of them said their goodbyes.

* * *

"Commander," Marguerite, one of the operators, called as Prairie left her bedroom to enter the Command Deck. For a moment, Vent was sure that he caught a glimpse of pink walls in there, but the door shut as quickly as it had opened. "We received two transmissions just now."

"What kind of transmissions?" Prairie asked as she settled down in her chair, idly fixing the ears of her cat plush sitting on her control panel.

"The first one doesn't have any information on the sender, nor is it encrypted with any special security codes. We scanned it to check for viruses and it came up clean," Marguerite told her. "It's a very short message: 'Check the planetarium in Area O.'"

"The planetarium in Area O?" Prairie echoed. "And there is no indication as to who could have sent it?"

"None, Commander," Marguerite shook her head. "All three of us have picked the message apart in every method that we could possibly think of."

"Very well then…" Prairie shook her head as she tried to puzzle it out. "And the second message?"

"This one was… encrypted," Tulip spoke up this time. "Commander, the encryption is the First Commander's special code."

Prairie froze just as Vent and Aile reentered the room. "The First Com… you mean, it's Sis's special code? The one that very few of us knew?"

"That's the one, Commander," Tulip replied, sounding a little shaken herself.

"The First Commander's special code?" Even Aile looked stunned at that. "Between that and Model C's mysterious existence, there's a good chance she's alive, isn't she?"

"Tulip, can you send the message over to my console?" Prairie requested. The operator did so, and Prairie looked down at her screen at the message, intent. Vent was tempted to peek at her console – he was curious about the First Commander – but Prairie closed it almost as soon as she had received it. "I see…"

"What does it say, Prairie?" Aile asked, equally as curious but not nosy enough to trying peering at her screen.

Prairie didn't respond at first, seeming contemplative before she finally spoke up. "…Aile, can I talk to you in private? This is important."

Aile looked surprised. "Alright."

Vent tried hard not to look offended at the idea of the two of them leaving him out again, causing Prairie to giggle at him. "Don't worry, Vent. I just want to ask Aile something, but don't want to put any pressure on her by having other people around to listen in."

"I'm not sure what this is about, but I'll tell you once we're done, okay?" Aile smiled at him. Vent sighed, but he nodded.

"Alright."

* * *

It was almost thirty minutes later when Aile and Prairie, who had disappeared into Prairie's bedroom – Vent had caught sight of several plush toys, most of them pink and cutesy, before the two had shut the door – came back out. Aile looked somewhat stunned, and Prairie looked relieved.

"Well?" Vent asked, sliding out of the chair he had been sitting in; Gardénia, another one of the operators, had been talking to him about basic functions of flying a ship without using autopilot and the conversation had been rather interesting.

"In about a week or so, I'm going to be taking a leave of absence from the Guardians to go find Sis," Prairie said calmly, almost as if she was announcing the weather.

"You're  _what_?!" Vent nearly knocked the chair next to him over. He wasn't the only one, however, as all three operators – Gardénia, Marguerite, and Tulip – nearly leapt out of their seats as well.

"Commander…" Marguerite seemed uncertain. "While I understand the necessity of searching for the First Commander, if you're not here, then who will…?"

"Ah, yes!" Prairie smiled at them. "That was what I wanted to talk to Aile about, actually. I feel like, with the three of you helping her with the day-to-day duties, that she could handle the responsibilities of being Commander while I am gone."

Vent glanced over at his sister. "Are you sure about this? This was rather sudden."

Aile nodded. "I think so… I've had two years to understand how everything works here, and I have the sneaking suspicion that Prairie had been training me during those two years." A quick glance at the Guardian Commander and the tiny smirk on her face confirmed it.

" _Besides, Vent,"_  Model X's voice came as the Biometal hovered in front of them.  _"She'll have me and Z with her to help. We both have experience in these kinds of things."_

He'd almost forgotten that the Biometals had been there, especially with how quiet Model C was being. Was the other  _still_  napping?

" _I th-think,"_  Model C suddenly spoke up, which answered Vent's question,  _"that Aile being Commander is making you all f-forget that_ other _message?"_

"Oh – yes!" Vent scratched his head in embarrassment and then turned to the two girls. "What was that message about a planetarium?"

"Ah, yes…" Prairie said, sitting back down in her Command Chair. "There's only one planetarium that I know of in Area O: Étoile Space Planetarium."

Aile cocked her head. "Vent, didn't Giro take us there once when we were little?"

Vent frowned, and nodded. "Yeah, I remember… we were like… six? I think we were upset and he was trying to cheer us up by taking us there. Why would someone tell us to go there?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think it would hurt if the two of you check it out," Prairie replied. "We'll look up information on the planetarium here while the two of you transport over there."

"Both of us?" Aile asked, frowning.

"Both of you," Prairie confirmed. "If this is a trap to lure one of you there, it's best if you both are there to work things out. That, and since Vent isn't actually a member of the Guardians, I can't send him out alone on good faith… no offense, Vent."

The twins looked at each other. "None taken. Let's head on out then," Vent said. He had been wanting to go back to that planetarium for a while, anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over a year. Welp. I really don't have too much of an excuse other than the fact that I fell out of ZX for a little bit, and fell back in long enough to both finish writing this chapter and make a skeleton for the next one.
> 
> - **Étoile Space Planetarium:**  If you recognize the name, then yes. I named it exactly why you think I did.


End file.
